A Witchy Idea: Duelist Kingdom
by RobynHood3
Summary: Sequel to "A Witchy Idea." The continuation of Christine's adventure's in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! Pegasus has abducted Grandpa and now it comes to Yugi, Christine, Jounouchi and the rest of the gang to rescue him. What lies in store for them on the island of 'Duelist Kingdom?
1. The Beginning

**What are the correct words...? Mwa Ha Ha? I think that is it.**

 **Didn't think I'd post just like that, huh? Well, I'm proud to say that I'm getting a little more active since I'm just sitting here in a couched area waiting around for my older sister to finish her second lab of the day (she is accepting prayers as I type this).**

 **This first chapter does have the duel but I made sure, based on some reviews from the original story that there was no need to put the entire duel into the chapter as that makes it too wordy and such, to cut bits but have some of the more important bits to add character details.**

 **I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! as that is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. I only own Christine, my OC.**

I admit, when I arrived somehow into the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, I didn't think that I would be, done, and seen everything that I have. The adventures that I have been on with all my friends have made me happier than I can even imagine, despite the danger that comes with being a part of them. Even with that danger, I still fought beside my friends, both physical and spiritual.

And speaking of the spiritual friends, Yami and I have been working out this relationship as well as we can; it was definitely strange when there is a medium, by that I mean Yugi, that didn't understand the essentials that the person I was seeing was actually a spirit that inhabited his body. Yami had lost a bit of his more sadistic side, though he did enjoy threatening a few people with a game. I can only guess that has happened because of his connection to Yugi, it was doing him some good. He was a little quieter but that was to be expected, he was becoming more aware of what he knows and doesn't know about himself. I promised myself that when he fully becomes aware of it, I'd be there for him.

It has been nearly a year since our encounter with Yami Bakura, the Spirit of the Millennium Ring, and the insanity of Kaiba's Death-T and we had had no other problems since. Life had continued as it usually would in a world that was based on a manga. Our problems returned when Miho finally broke her news that she was moving. She had broken down in tears as we all sat in the park relaxing on what seemed like a normal Sunday.

"I didn't want to tell you all." Miho sniffed. "Our last trip was to finish the paperwork on the house and Mama's job."

"I see." Anzu said softly.

The entire gang was practically shell-shocked at the news. No one said a word, and that didn't help the fact that Miho was ready to unleash another torrent of tears. Seeing her torn apart at even the thought of leaving us, I couldn't help but be moved to near tears as well. I was the first to move and wrapped Miho into a hug. Her tears began again but I held all the tighter. Eventually, the rest of the gang had joined in, giving Miho the comfort she deserved.

We spent as much time together as we could, going to arcades and hanging out at restaurants, eating away at the money that Grandpa let us have for this farewell ceremony, until the day Miho had to travel to the airport. Her mother had set up a taxi to take them both there and when we arrived, was placing their baggage into the trunk while Miho said her final goodbyes.

"Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your adventures." Miho smiled, trying to keep herself composed, though her voice shook slightly.

"It was a pleasure having you with us." I replied, giving her one last hug before everyone else came in. "We'll definitely miss you."

Watching the hugs was sad but when Honda finally came over to say goodbye, a tear actually slid down my cheek. I hoped that no one would notice but unfortunately, Yugi did. He gave a comforting squeeze to my hand and I smiled down to him. Honda and Miho were quiet as they spoke and soon, Miho's mother called to her. The two hugged and soon enough, Miho had to climb into the taxi.

The yellow car's engine started and with a final wave from Miho and the rest of the gang, she was soon out of sight. We remained for a minute or two longer before we decided to go to Yugi's house to ease our broken hearts.

After a few weeks, the loss dulled and soon the pattern of not seeing Miho became normal. The shop's selling of Duel Monster cards had increased dramatically, so I guess that the game's popularity was skyrocketing yet again. I had seen tons of people play it at school and even Jounouchi and Yugi had started to play when we were on breaks. Anzu even played a few rounds, kicking Jounouchi's butt each time. Unfortunately for Jounouchi, today wasn't going to be any different.

"Bwa ha ha ha!" Jounouchi attempted to laugh maniacally at the card he had just drawn. "Take this, Anzu! I attack with Rock Ogre Grotto!"

I was watching from my spot next to Yugi as the both of us contemplated what Jounouchi had planned, if anything at all. Anzu didn't seem too worried about it.

"Then on my turn…." She took another glance at her cards before she flipped one onto the field. "I use the spell card 'Wind of the Gods'! The holy breeze erodes your Golem! He turns to dust! I win!"

"Jounouchi: Nothing. Anzu: 14." I was keeping score and apparently on this loss, Jounouchi finally lost it.

"Again!" He exclaimed. "I lost again!" He ran over to Yugi and shook the boy by his shoulders. "Yugi! Why…. Why?! Why can't I win?! What am I doing wrong?!"

"Show me your deck, Jounouchi." Yugi replied when the blond let him go.

"Okay…."

Yugi took the cards and began to search through them. At first he seemed serious until a few more cards in and his eyebrows began to rise higher and higher into his hairline.

"Yugi?" I asked. "Is everything ok?"

He didn't reply for a minute until he held out the deck to me.

"Tell me what is wrong with this deck, Christine." He said seriously.

With my own eyebrow raised, I took the deck, and began to search through it. I swiped through the cards and I'm sure my reaction was the same as Yugi's.

"Jounouchi, where are all your spell cards?" I asked. "Where are the traps?"

"I didn't put any in." Jounouchi replied with a smile. "I stuffed that deck with the most powerful monster cards I could find."

Yugi and I shared a look then looked back to Jounouchi.

"The biggest strategy of this game is combing monster and spell cards!" Yugi explained. "Your opponent can easily dodge your attacks if you only fight with monsters!"

"Or find a way to use that strength against you." I added.

Jounouchi wore a blank face for a minute. Even over the hum of students talking around us, I could hear the 'Hmmm' come from the blond. Jounouchi moved after another moment.

"Awright, Yugi!" He grabbed Yugi by the shoulders yet again. "Please! You gotta train me to play better!"

Yugi smiled at the request.

"Okay! Come to my place afterschool!"

"Yugi…" I went to remind him of something. "Don't forget about what else is tonight."

"Oh yeah!" Yugi exclaimed then turned back to Jounouchi. "You've chosen a great time! The finals of the Duel Monsters Tournament is on TV at 5:00 tonight!"

"It is?" Anzu asked.

"Yeah." I replied. "Both Yugi and Grandpa are pretty excited to watch it."

"Let's watch it together!" Jounouchi suggested loudly.

There were no dissenting votes so when the final bell of the day rang, we all made our way to the game shop. Grandpa was surprisingly outside, flipping the sign of the shop from 'open' to 'closed'.

"I'm home, Grandpa!" Yugi called when we got close.

The old man turned around and gave all of us a bright smile.

"Ah, Yugi, Christine!" He smiled. "Welcome home!" Grandpa looked around and saw that Jounouchi and Anzu were both here with us. "You're all here! Come on in!"

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow, looking confused.

"Huh, you closed already?" The blond asked.

"Ho Ho, of course!" Grandpa chortled. "The Duel Monsters Finals are on tonight! I can't be caught shop keeping!"

"That would suck immensely for him." I smiled and Grandpa nodded as he let all of us into the shop. "We would never hear the end of his complaining."

"Hush, you." Grandpa gave an annoyed look but I knew better since he smiled soon afterward. "Oh, by the way, Yugi..." Grandpa picked up a package that lay on the counter. "A package came for you!"

"A package?" Yugi asked as he took the simple cardboard box from Grandpa. "Who's it from?"

I glanced over his shoulder to look for a return address but saw nothing.

"Apparently someone wanted to remain anonymous since there isn't anything." I answered. "What do you think it could be?"

Yugi shrugged but he had a hard time looking away from the box.

I helped Grandpa make small snacks for when we watched the duel but I didn't think that the duel would last long enough for anyone to eat anything. Soon enough, we all gathered in front of Yugi's TV as the sponsors for the tournament were being displayed.

"The show's almost starting!" Yugi cheered.

"This really is kind of exciting!" Anzu clenched, her hands together in anticipation.

"Of course!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "This decides the top duelist in Japan!"

"I just wonder how the two Duelists are feeling." I said aloud. "Nervous or what?"

"Most likely they are planning their strategies so they don't really have the time to be nervous." Grandpa replied to me.

"I can see that." I nodded, somewhat understanding.

"Why didn't you enter, Yugi?" Jounouchi suddenly asked the boy. "You coulda made it all the way!"

Yugi turned back to the TV, a sort of melancholy look on his face.

"Yeah, but…." He thought for second more. "I made a decision…. To not to fight in a tournament, unless I'm fighting him…"

We all glanced to Yugi. 'Him' meant Kaiba, I'm sure. Anzu even asked to be sure. "Yup!" Yugi answered, his cheerfulness back. "This time fair and square. That's my dream."

"That's a good thing to dream for." I smiled at Yugi. "I'm sure it will happen."

"I hear Kaiba is still…" Anzu went to tell of his condition but we all knew.

Yugi and I had visited him yesterday after school; Kaiba still hadn't changed since his duel with Yami. He stared blankly at the wall as Mokuba talked to him about everything that was going on. It was nice seeing that Mokuba wasn't giving up hope but it was hard to watch the younger brother having to be strong for his elder sibling.

"I still…" Jounouchi slightly hissed out. "Even if he came back, I still wouldn't trust him! I'd never trust that creep!"

"Jounouchi." I chastised but the blond didn't recant his statement.

"Oho!" Grandpa exclaimed. "It's about to start!"

The TV had sprung to life and was showing the sold out stadium and the announcer that was probably paid far too much to perform this act.

"For many Duel Monsters fans across the country, it all comes down to this moment!" The announcer began. "Out of 200 Duelists who made it through the Regionals, only one can claim the crown! The Finalists are entering the stadium!"

As per the over dramatic rules for finals, the last two competitors had to be brought up in style. Two teen boys appeared out of smoke filled doors. Oh boy, these two. It was Weevil and Rex. These two were the bane of my existence when I watched this show for the first time. Weevil was very distinguishable with his green hair and bug shaped glasses and Rex could be spotted with his less than adequately groomed hair and beanie hat he always wore. "From East Japan! Weevil Underwood! And from West Japan! Rex Raptor!"

The two settled into a similar sort of duel arena that Yugi and Kaiba had dueled in, though this one was shaped more like a square than the small dome from before. The duel started without much of a hitch. I glanced over to watch but not listen to the conversation between Yugi and Jounouchi about who they thought would win. I watched the duel passively until Weevil pulled his trump card, tricking Rex into playing one of his most powerful cards and Weevil used his trap card to defeat him in a perfect strike. "With one decisive blow, Weevil Underwood wins! He is the champion!"

"The bug guy won!" Jounouchi gasped, his mouth nearly hanging to the floor.

"Impressive." I replied with an agreeing nod from Yugi.

"And here to give you your trophy and prize money is a special guest!" The announcer gestured to another entryway where a man was already walking in. He had past shoulder length silver hair that only revealed one of his eyes and he wore a red suit.

My hand accidentally flicked me when I saw Pegasus. I had completely forgotten he came to the tournament. "The President of Industrial Illusions Inc. and the genius game designer, creator of Duel Monsters, Maximillian J. Pegasus!"

The studio didn't record Pegasus' and Weevil's little discussion but I knew the gist of it. The creator was inviting the new champion to his new tournament. When the announcer came back onto the TV, Grandpa shut it off so we all could talk.

"Weevil Underwood, eh?" Grandpa asked quietly. "I can't say I'm surprised."

"Same!" Yugi agreed. "What a great duel!"

"Now I understand what a combo can do!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "Watching that got me fired up! C'mon, Yugi! Train me!"

"Okay!" Yugi exclaimed, a bright smile on his face.

Anzu and I took a glance at each other and smiled. These two were insane.

"Before that..." Grandpa intervened before things really did get crazy. "Let's open this package."

Yugi's smile dropped. He took the package from Grandpa and settled it on the ground in the middle of our group.

"Oh, yeah." He sighed. "I forgot. We can play after opening this!"

Yugi pulled the tape off the box and carefully cut the tape apart on the sides. When he finally got it open, we all raised an eyebrow at the contents. A fingerless glove, two golden stars and a video tape. Who would've sent this to Yugi? Jounouchi picked up the tape, examining it for a moment, before holding it out to Yugi.

"Maybe the explanation is on this tape!" He suggested. "Can you play it, Yugi?"

"Yeah."

The boy took the tape and set it into the player, the rest of us gathering around so we could see what would happen. The screen fuzzed and flickered for a few seconds until a face suddenly appeared. Maximillian Pegasus?

"Hello!" The man on the screen said with a bright smile. "At last we meet, Yugi-boy! Nice to meet you!"

"What?" I choked out. "How did….?"

"That's the guy who…" Jounouchi choked out as well.

"The American who was just on TV... The creator of Duel Monsters!" Yugi managed to finish for the both of us.

Everyone was confused and it didn't help that the Pegasus on the screen began to speak again.

"No, no!" He seemed to plead. "Don't be so surprised! I just wanted to send a video letter to the real champ! I understand you are very skilled at Duel Monsters! After all, you defeated Kaiba-boy! Well done! Good Job! Wonderful!"

I glanced at Yugi and he seemed as confused as I was. Apparently, Pegasus was convinced that Yugi would open his package after the Tournament had finished so he recorded the video that way. My stomach was beginning to quake with the bad feeling that was running through my thoughts. "Let's get down to business, shall we? I want to test your skill right away! I challenge you to duel this video recording of me at Duel Monsters!"

"What?!" Yugi and the rest of us exclaimed.

"How can Yugi play against someone on a video recording?" Grandpa asked aloud. "Impossible! That's no challenge! He can't know what cards Yugi will play!"

"What is going on?" I muttered but no one paid me any heed.

"All right?" Pegasus asked as he pulled out a deck of cards. "Build your deck in front of the monitor! In five minutes, our duel will begin!"

Yugi immediately jumped to his feet.

"Okay, I'll take any challenge!" He exclaimed.

Jounouchi and Anzu cheered him on but I tried to be the voice of reason.

"But Yugi!" I called, turning in my seat, as he ran to get his cards. "How can you possibly play against a recording? Nothing will add up!"

"Well, it never hurts to see!" Yugi replied as he settled his cards and began to build a deck.

Yes it does… I sighed and went to fight some more but it was already too late. "Okay, my deck is ready!"

"Are you ready?" The Pegasus on the monitor asked, cheerfully. "Let's go!"

"Duel!" Yugi called and drew his first card. "I'll start with the Koumori Dragon—The Evil Dragon card!"

The Duel continued on from there but the weird kept getting weirder. Every card Yugi put onto the field, Pegasus was able to combat it without even blinking an eye. Yugi must have realized that this was no ordinary duel but a Shadow game since Yami had come out pretty early on into the duel. The spirit glanced over to me and I gave him a comforting nod but apparently that wasn't what he was looking for.

He continued on with the duel and the same thing kept happening. He first read his strategy for strengthening his monster then Yugi's captured Koumori dragon defeated his Silver Fang resulting in the first loss of life-points for the match. Yami's next card was also read since Pegasus was able to counter Yami's Great White, a water monster, with Oscillo Hero, an electric type. This wasn't going well at all.

"I understand your shock…" Pegasus used the unneeded pun as he spoke again. "But this is reality! You cannot defeat me!"

That hit a nerve and my hand twitched. Reigning in my temper, I slid off the couch, crawled over to Yami and gave a gentle squeeze to his hand. It didn't help him in the duel any but he actually smiled.

"Don't give up." I whispered.

Yami nodded and for the sake of his concentration, I returned to my seat. Anzu and Jounouchi gave him more encouragements until Pegasus spoke again.

"Now, I think it's about time…" The silver haired man gave a sigh. "Let me tell you the other reason I challenged you. It wasn't just for fun… Hear this, Yugi-boy! If you lose this game, you must take part in the tournament my company is holding! The event that will determine the true champion of Duel Monsters! The Duelist Kingdom! To be honest, I wanted Kaiba-boy to come as well… But it's too bad… I hear he's not going to recover…" The mellow personality soon jumped back to the cheerful one. "Anyways, of course, the one who becomes 'king' will also win a large sum of money! And something even more valuable! Wait till you see what it is!"

Here comes one of the reason why I love both Yugi and Yami, they are not greedy in anyway. With the offer of tons of money, every time, they both would refuse and this time was no different.

"I'm not interested in any event of yours!" Yami straightened his spine defiantly. "What if I refuse?"

"No, no, no!" Pegasus cried out. "You can't refuse… Because you can't defeat me! You can't escape!"

"Oh, really…" Yami drawled and I fought the chuckle that would have come up at the way he smirked at Pegasus' words. "Well, I haven't lost yet!"

The duel continued and the next break didn't have to wait to come as long as the first. "I'll play this card face down!" The card smacked as it hit the ground and he glanced back at us. "Grandpa! Jounouchi! Anzu!"

"Yes!" They all cried out.

"You haven't seen the card I played, right?"

"Of course not!" Grandpa quickly reported to him. "Only you saw it!"

"Nope!" Jounouchi agreed with Grandpa.

"Not me!" Anzu cried.

Yami preceded to ask them to use their sixth sense to identify the card that Yami had placed on the field. At first they argued about how they weren't psychic but Yami convinced them to try and as they processed the thought, I butted in.

"Hey, how come you didn't call me?" I asked. "Jerk."

Yami turned, a slightly condescending smirk on his face, and I raised an eyebrow.

"I know you, Christine." He simply said. "You probably already know what card I played and the card I was even thinking about."

I went to object but faltered. Crud, he was right. I crossed my arms petulantly and refused to look at the spirit.

"Fine." I huffed and was received with a chuckle.

"It's just a feeling but..." Grandpa finally answered Yami's call. "I got the picture of a skull!"

Yami's eyes widened at the words.

"I'm thinking of a cool warrior!" Jounouchi exclaimed, making Yami shake his head and turned to Anzu.

"Well... Actually…" Anzu replied. "I thought the same thing your grandpa did. A skeleton!"

Yami's smirk returned ten-fold and he returned his gaze to the TV. To our surprise, Pegasus said the card that Yami was going to play was also an undead type monster and had prepared to counter it.

"He's using subliminal messages!" Yami announced triumphantly.

"Subliminal messages?!" Grandpa asked, disbelievingly. "You mean the technique where you flash images on the screen for just a second, so you don't remember it consciously? Could he really do that?"

"It wouldn't have been difficult." I replied and everyone turned to me. "He asked Yugi to put together his deck in front of the TV screen so Yugi would pick those cards to start with and after each turn he would set up another image so that Yugi would unconsciously pick it and Pegasus would be ready for him."

Jounouchi and Anzu gave wide eyes and we all quickly turned back to the duel. Pegasus was convinced that he would win but Yami proved him wrong by playing a different card, the Dark Magician. Pegasus brushed off the attack, claiming that he knew that Yami had played the Dark Magician all along but was impressed that he had figured out his mind trick. The game then became even more interesting when a timer was added to the mix. If Yami had more life points when the timer ran out, he would win automatically. The only dark side was the loser had to be hit with a penalty game.

The next few minutes were just filled with a constant battle between the opposing monsters. It was very repetitive and got boring fast. Though the part where the Dark Magician was controlled by Pegasus to destroy his own monster was enough to shake me out of the lull. Yami managed to corner Pegasus with his Summoned Skull but the attack was too slow and the timer ran out.

"Game Over!" Pegasus cheered happily, much to our horror. "Whew! That was close… if that battle had gone one… I would surely have lost. Or would I?"

Yami shook with anger and the entire gang and I jumped over to attempt to comfort him. I was the only one to touch him, as I took his shoulder to try to shake him out of it. "My dear Yugi-boy… You have even more talent than I expected… I predict we will meet again in Duelist Kingdom." Yami sneered at the silver haired in response to the 'compliment'. "By the standard rules of trading card games, the winner can take any card of the loser's. But you don't have any cards I want…"

"Then just leave him alone!" I growled out.

Yami turned as if to tell me to be quiet but I shot him a dirty look which hopefully said 'Don't even try to stop me'. Pegasus tutted at me, his finger shaking in front of him.

"Can't, my dear." He smiled. "The game has already been decided so it must be followed through."

His gaze turned back to Yami. "So, Yugi-boy… I'm gonna take something special from you instead! That way you won't try to escape me!"

Light exploded from the TV, making all of us cover our eyes. A hand grabbed my wrist and didn't let go, as if to make sure that I didn't go anywhere. There was a thump behind me and the light soon faded away.

"What the heck?" Anzu asked aloud. "What was that?"

I was blinking rapidly. My eyes hurt from the bright light but soon the dark spots were fading away.

"Are you ok, Christine?" Yami asked quickly.

"Yeah." I managed. "Just a little blinded."

Yami seemed relieved at the words and the hand holding my wrist let go. Using the newfound mobility, I turned around to see Grandpa collapsed on the floor. "Grandpa?"

"Hey, gramps!" Joey called and tried to shake him awake but the old man didn't move.

Yami jumped up and shook Grandpa himself while I ran over to the side where Jounouchi was.

"Grandpa!" Yami nearly shouted. "What's wrong, Grandpa?!"

Pegasus said something but I was too distracted by the unconscious Grandpa. I immediately checked for vital signs. His pulse was still there but it was faint; Grandpa would need a hospital and fast. I looked up, to tell Yami and the gang the seriousness of this moment, to see the item responsible for this. Pegasus' Millennium Eye, capable of reading minds and removing souls… Oh no… Pegasus then vanished and Grandpa suddenly appeared on the TV screen.

"Yugi…." Grandpa called, his voice slightly fuzzy from the static.

Pegasus had taken someone important to Yugi, all right. And while Yami thought that I would be taken as he had taken my wrist, the target was someone else. Pegasus was a monster; he had taken the only family Yugi had, his grandfather.

 **I hope you enjoyed that! I'll attempt to finish the story so that I can get the rest of the story up in a timely fashion.**

 **Have a great day! RobynHood3**


	2. Learning about the Kingdom

**Hey Guys!**

 **A little more than a week but better than nearly an entire year! Updates may be a little weird for next week since some idiot decided to cut the wire that creates the internet and the phone on our house and most of the entire street. So while the wifi works, nothing loads and that makes updating hard. I'm putting this up at the library as the police investigate and the internet is put back into place. Hopefully that is soon.**

 **I own nothing of Yu-Gi-Oh! If you do recognize anything from anything else you have read, I don't own that either. I only own Christine, my OC.**

Yugi, after Yami had given him control back, sat quietly as emergency responders arrived to take Yugi's grandpa to the hospital. They had asked if Yugi wanted to come with him but I declined in Yugi's stead, he was in a bit of shock. They understood and rushed the old man to the hospital. Once the house was silent again, I turned my attention to Yugi, who was still watching Grandpa in the TV. Jounouchi and Anzu had both gone home to give Yugi some space but I'm not sure if he really noticed their absence. I crossed the room and sat next to him on the couch.

"Hey." I said softly. "It'll be ok."

Yugi didn't reply, he barely even blinked. "Yugi, please answer me. I can't stand to see you like this." The boy finally turned to me, his eyes empty of emotion.

"I let this happen." He said. "I let him take Grandpa."

"Now that isn't true, Yugi!" Grandpa shouted at us from the TV. "It was the blasted Pegasus' fault, he cheated his way to winning."

"Grandpa's right." I gave Yugi a tight side hug. "We'll find a way to right this, even if I have to make sure Jounouchi sucker punches Pegasus right in the face."

Yugi didn't laugh but he did take a calming breath.

"Right." Yugi nodded. "Though, let's see if we can get Grandpa off the TV."

"I can only assume that if the tape is still playing, I'll be fine." Grandpa guessed.

Yugi must have gotten an idea as he jumped off the couch and ran off to his room. "Can you do something to remedy this, Christine?"

I shook my head sadly. Moving souls was practically taboo for me, which didn't help to know that all the enemies here could do it. "I see."

"Let's just see if we can move you into my camcorder, Grandpa," Yugi appeared again with his tape camcorder.

"I'm ready."

Yugi pressed a button on the video player and the tape popped out of the slot, making Grandpa's face disappear from the screen. Yugi had to breathe a moment before he placed the tape into the device and pressed play. Grandpa's face appeared on the smaller screen. "Here!" He called.

"That's a relief." I sighed.

"Yeah." Yugi's voice darkened again.

Pretty much knowing his mood by the tone, I stood from the couch and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't we go to bed, Yugi." I suggested. "We will be able to think more clearly in the morning."

"Christine's right, Yugi." Grandpa smiled. "It's not like I can go anywhere like this; I'll be here."

"Ok." Yugi agreed despite the dark words that Grandpa intoned.

It would be long night. There was a monster on the loose and he was willing to do anything to get what he wanted.

* * *

 **Next Morning:**

The next morning was just as gloomy as last night. Jounouchi had called Honda and explained what had happened and the other boy arrived to school that day with a solemn face and soft words to Yugi, who still spoke to Grandpa in his camcorder. The only one of our group that arrived to school cheerful was Bakura.

"Good Morning, everybody!" He exclaimed as he walked into our classroom.

He was met with the gloom overcast and a few meager hellos from Anzu and Honda. "What's wrong? What's the matter, you guys?"

"We had a pretty long night last night." I disclosed simply from my spot two desks over from Yugi.

"Oh?"

Bakura then noticed Yugi's camcorder and walked over to peer over his shoulder to see what it was. "Hmm? What are you watching, Yugi?"

The white haired boy's face became surprised as I heard Grandpa greet him. "Is this a video phone?" Bakura asked with a shaky voice.

"Nope." Yugi answered immediately. "My grandpa is stuck in this video."

"Huh?!" Bakura exclaimed his confusion.

"It's hard to believe, but Yugi lost a game of Duel Monsters to this weird guy's video recording!" Jounouchi began to explain. "The guy had a Millennium Item and… He used its apparent power to put Yugi's grandpa's soul in this tape!"

I became worried at Bakura's reaction to this news. Ever since the incident with the Millennium Ring, I was curious about when the Ring would begin to call to Bakura once again. Would the mention of the Millennium Eye bring out a reaction? The boy simply seemed surprised at the mention but I felt no energy spike from the Ring, if it was even here.

"What should I do?" Yugi asked both himself and us. "What if Grandpa can't return to normal?"

"Here Here!" Grandpa argued from the camcorder. "I'm doing just fine here! Don't you all get depressed over me!"

"Gramps is right!" Jounouchi exclaimed to Yugi. "Brooding over it won't solve anything, right, Yugi?"

"You're right!" Yugi nodded.

"Look at Jounouchi." I smiled. "The new cheerleader!"

He huffed at me.

"Give me the pom-poms and I'll gladly stand next to my bud!" The blond crossed his arms and gave a defiant look.

I threw my hands up in surrender, conceding the round to Jounouchi.

"It's not a bad thing." I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "Calm down."

Jounouchi nodded and turned back to Yugi as the conversation continued before I had veered it off course.

"Though, while I'm ok, the Other Me isn't." Yugi played with the top of the Millennium Puzzle as he said this.

"What!" Anzu exclaimed. "You've learned to talk with your alter ego?"

Yugi shook his head.

"It's not like I can talk to him with words…" The boy trailed away as he closed his eyes. "But if I close my eyes, I can sense what he's feeling."

"So he's depressed?" Anzu asked softly.

"Yup." Yugi nodded his head as he opened his eyes. "I think he feels bad about losing to Pegasus…"

After this sunk in for a minute, everyone glanced at me, making me slightly uncomfortable.

"Why are you all looking at me?" I asked, taking a defensive stance.

"You know the Other Yugi the best!" Jounouchi exclaimed.

"Yeah?" I raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"Would this kinda be an event he would get depressed at?" Honda asked, finally saying something after his few minutes of silence.

I sighed. Man, Yami, you now owe me.

"Yugi, remember what I told you in Death T?" I asked the boy. "About how your other self would never hurt you?" Yugi nodded. "Well, he is very protective of you and of the entire gang here. I guess… Losing Grandpa was probably a big hit to him and he feels pretty bad about it."

Nobody said anything for what seemed like an eternity. I know I felt bad about this. Yami had thought that after my display for Yugi, Pegasus would have taken me and fought to keep me there but… I shook my head lightly. There was nothing I could do, this was how it was supposed to be.

The sound of a news book crinkling invaded my mind then and I shook myself out of the thoughts fast enough to get jumped by Jounouchi shouting at the Puzzle with the rolled up paper.

"Hey, in there!" Jounouchi shouted. "Cheer up, Other Yugi!"

"That isn't going to help!" I shouted back as everyone gathered their hearing once again.

"Anyways!" Jounouchi continued while ignoring my dirty look. "It looks like if we want to save Gramps, we just have to get back at Pegasus."

"Yeah." Yugi agreed, a serious look on his face. "That's what he said… 'Come to my Kingdom!' He said that's where they're going to crown the King of Duel Monsters!"

"The Duelist Kingdom." Grandpa said aloud. "The problem is we have no idea where that is!"

"It's probably not the name of an island." I said, cutting it out of the pool. "That would be a little too easy to find."

Everyone nodded at that.

"You said that Pegasus has a Millennium Item, didn't you?" Bakura asked suddenly.

"He not only has one, he dug out his own eye to put it in!" Jounouchi exclaimed, pointing to his own eye.

"Maybe if you go to this Kingdom, you'll find the secret of the Millennium Items…" He pulled something out of his pocket. "Like my Millennium Ring."

The entire gang jumped up to get away from the golden object. I had jumped to be behind Yugi's desk and Jounouchi had jumped to be behind me.

"Agh!" Jounouchi near screamed. "You still have that thing!?"

"It's okay!" Bakura soothed. "As long as I don't wear it, it's just a piece of jewelry!"

Highly doubt-able, I thought. It was a minute or so before everyone crawled out of their hiding spots and back into our other formation. "My father bought it from an antique shop in Egypt, but, as you know, there's a personality inside of it. Just like Yugi's puzzle. I want to find out all the secrets of the Millennium Items! Like, who made them? How do they work? What are they for? I bet Pegasus knows the answers!"

"Like he'll tell us." I muttered.

Suddenly, Yugi stood up straight so fast, he sent his chair clattering to the ground. He then started on his way to the door of the classroom.

"What's up, Yugi?" Anzu asked.

Yugi turned back and I could see a faint crimson light deep in Yugi's eyes.

"I'm sorry." Yugi apologized. "I'd like to be alone for a while. Ahh… Not me, I mean the Other Me!"

Nobody argued with him and let him go. He didn't come back in time for class so as the teacher taught, I began to get worried about him. I shook my head. Yami is a 5000 year old spirit, not someone who needed to be watched on a daily basis like a child but still… I was technically Yami's girlfriend so would it be warranted to be worried about him? Hell yeah.

"Sensei?" I called. "Yugi wasn't feeling well, may I check on him?"

"Very well." The teacher replied, barely looking away from the writing on the board.

"Take good notes for me." I whispered to Anzu.

"Don't I always?" She replied cheekily.

I sniggered then raced out the door to where I knew Yami was probably brooding, the roof. I popped open the door quietly, glancing out before I walked into the open. Yami had his fingers laced through the fence's metal wires and the glare on his face would've killed. I snuck over and leaned on the fence only two steps away from him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yami take a glance at me then back to the horizon. We stood in silence for at least a minute until Yami finally pulled away from the fence.

"Was there something else I could've done?" Yami asked, his voice shaking from anger. "Could I have done anything at all to save him?"

I stood silent, not moving from my spot on the fence. It was enough to answer the angry spirit's questions. "I lost him to that monster but… I won't run." Yami's fists clenched. "I'll get Grandpa's soul back."

"I know you will." I finally responded. "Heaven help Pegasus for when you get there."

That made Yami silent again. There was the question again, how did we get there? I shook it off for now since the spirit in front of me needed some sort of comfort. I pulled myself away from the fence and took the few steps over to Yami so I could wrap my arms around his neck, though I needed to stand on my tip toes to do so. "Did you get taller?" I huffed.

"I don't think so." Yami replied somewhat hesitantly.

"You must have since I have to think tall to hug you now."

Thankfully, Yami chuckled finally and wrapped his arms around me. I played with Yami's collar as we both took calming breaths. This was the longest we had been together in a long time and I guess we both wanted it to last. "Don't beat yourself up over this, Yami." I said softly. "Just like I told Yugi last night, we'll make this right." Yami only nodded his head, not replying but at least letting me know me he had heard me. After what seemed like an eternity, I had to pull away. "Yugi and I need to get back to class."

"Ok."

Yami took my hand and nearly dragged me back to the door. I raised an eyebrow at the spirit's behavior. Why wasn't he giving Yugi control back? We had just entered the school again when I spoke again.

"We have a problem with this arrangement."

"How so?" Yami asked, putting up his innocent act.

"You can't exactly be 'Yugi' enough to fool the teacher." I raised my free hand to create my quotation marks. "And the whole gang knows what you look like now."

"I know what I'm doing, Christine." Yami simply said. "We'll be fine."

Yami obviously was trying to pull a fast one on me but… I gave a smirk that made it look like I was a cat that had just gotten the cream. Let's try this… We were only a few feet away from the classroom door when I put my plan into action. I tugged Yami's hand, pulling him back around the corner we had just turned. "Ok…" Yami drawled quietly as I dragged him. "I'm sensing some hypocrisy! You said that you and Yugi needed to go back to class and yet you are dragging…!" I had suddenly stopped tugging him and as he gave me a confused expression, I pulled down his head to kiss me. Yami froze and barely had the chance to realize what was going on as I pulled back and ran back to the classroom, a slight giggle escaping my lips.

I had calmed down as I walked back into the class and sat at my desk without a word. Yugi came in at least two minutes later and he glanced over at me with a confused expression. He probably remembered bits and pieces of when Yami was in control but he was blocked for when Yami was walking me back. I held back the snigger that threatened to come out in the middle of class at the expression.

* * *

It was a long day of classes but eventually Yugi and I were at the door of the game shop. The sign was flipped to 'Closed', painfully reminding me that Grandpa was in the hospital because of the monster Pegasus.

"I'm home!" Yugi called as he unlocked the door of the shop.

"Ummm…" Grandpa drawled from his spot on the camcorder screen. "Welcome home?"

Both Yugi and I raised an eyebrow then we both remembered that Grandpa was in the camcorder. I was so used to him being gone fully since that was how the anime went, so I had to get used to that.

"I totally forgot you were in there, Grandpa." I breathed.

"Yeah, it scared me a little." Yugi agreed. "I'm so used to hearing you inside the shop!"

"Yeah." Grandpa sighed. "But I'm getting used to being in here."

That was a damper on my heart but I shook past it. We'd get Grandpa out of the tape. I came out of my thoughts to see that Yugi was pulling a small envelope off the door.

"I wonder what it is." Yugi asked himself aloud.

He pulled the envelope apart and gasped when he pulled out playing cards. "Duel Monster Cards!" He glanced up at me as if to ask me if I knew what they were but he looked back to the card quickly. "Did somebody accidentally leave these here?"

"I highly doubt it." I replied. "Since the popularity has spiked, nobody leaves any cards lying around."

"Yugi, show me the cards!" Grandpa shouted and I held the other cards while Yugi held the camcorder and the main card in front of the screen.

"It says 'Voyage to the Kingdom'!" Yugi read from the card. "It shows a time and place."

"It's finally come!" Grandpa began ominously. "The invitation… The ticket to Duelist Kingdom."

We couldn't think about it much longer since the rest of the gang suddenly arrived.

"Hey, Yugi!" Jounouchi called.

"Jounouchi?" I asked.

"Why did you come all the way here?" Yugi asked as well.

Jounouchi pulled out a small package from his pocket and began to open it.

"Brace yourself!" He said. "Look what I just got!" He pulled out a small tape, like the one Yugi had received last night. "A video tape addressed to me! The mailman delivered it today!"

"You got one too?" Yugi asked, a sort of fear growing in his eyes.

"Anyways, can I watch it here, Yugi?" Jounouchi continued without really answering Yugi's question. "I don't have a video player."

Yugi of course agreed, and the entire gang ran inside the shop and up to the living room where the boy set out all the cards he had just received. There were five in total, each with a different image. Yugi picked up the first card that was decorated with a large boat.

"This one tells you when and where to board the boat that goes to Duelist Kingdom." He explained. "One week from now at 9:30pm at the Domino Pier."

"Only a week away?" I asked. "That means not a lot of time to prepare."

Nobody wanted to even consider that thought so we went on reading the different cards.

"Next is the Duelist Kingdom card." Yugi continued. "There's an island drawn on it. So the tournament is probably on a small island called Duelist Kingdom."

Anzu then turned to me.

"Your guess about it being not being an island was wrong then, Christine."

"Apparently so." I huffed. "How peachy."

Yugi picked up the next card that had the image of the strange glove that he had received in Pegasus' package.

"That's the glove you got before, right?" Anzu asked.

Yugi nodded then pulled the box from last night over and picked out the glove and the two golden stars that were secured inside.

"These star chips must be proof of your status as a duelist." Yugi theorized. "And you bet on each of your duels."

He put the stars down and picked up the last two cards. "Then the last two cards… Honor of the King's right is probably the prize money the winner will receive. However, there's nothing written on the other card. It's probably some secret prize that only the one who becomes 'King' can get. And that's it for the cards."

"Let's go ahead and watch Jounouchi's video." Anzu proposed and the blond was ready in an instant.

"Here goes!" Jounouchi called as he set the tape inside the slot.

Yugi's TV only showed static for a few seconds until a face that none of us recognized appeared. She looked a lot like Jounouchi but her hair was a near dark brown. She gave a sweet smile and a wave.

"Hi there, Katsuya!" she greeted. "How's my big brother doing?"

Big Brother?! Wait a minute… It was Shizuka, Jounouchi's younger sister!

"Jounouchi!" Yugi exclaimed. "Did she just say 'Big Brother'?"

"I didn't know Jounouchi had a sister!" Honda exclaimed.

I quickly silenced the shouting with a glare as the younger girl was still speaking despite all our noise.

"It's been a long time!" She smiled again. "Hee hee… I'm sending you a video so you won't forget what I look like, but I wish I could see your face too!"

Jounouchi seemed to flinch at that statement. "Actually, I really wanted to see you in person instead of sending you a video… but you're so busy and we live so far apart. I wanted to see your face… for one last time." One last time? Oh… "Katsuya, please, don't tell Dad about this video… Well, that's all, take care of yourself. Goodbye, Big Brother."

The screen returned to showing only static leaving all of us to stare at Jounouchi's back. He remained silent until he finally gave an explanation.

"My parents… split up around six years ago." He explained to us. "My sister went with my mom. They live pretty far away. My sister has had problems with her eyes since she was born… The doctors said that she would go blind eventually."

We all gasped at the words. I couldn't help but be angry at the doctors. They can tell that she could go blind but do nothing to help her and probably prevent it from happening. "When she sad 'one last time', that means... the docs told her that time has finally come…"

"But that's awful!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Isn't there anything they can do?" Anzu asked.

"They say with the most advanced treatments out there, she has about a 50% chance of a successful operation to cure her… but where can I get that kind of money? I'm her big brother but I can't do anything to help her! Not one thing! I'm useless!"

Even with some of his hair covering his face, I saw a lone tear slide down Jounouchi's cheek. It was the worst thing imaginable for me. Knowing that there was nothing I could do to help the person I cared for most. We all sat around the blond in a sad silence, the only sound was a piteous 'Jounouchi' that came from Anzu. I wanted to comfort my friend but I was slightly convinced that he didn't need or want our pity; he had gone through so much alone already and was not used to having to explain so much of himself to us. A shiver went down my spine as I saw Yugi stand up and walk over to Jounouchi. I considered pulling him back but I recognized the way Yugi now held himself, Yami had taken over. He took Jounouchi's shoulder and the blond turned around quickly.

"Cheer up, Jounouchi!" Yami practically instructed him.

"Yugi…?" Jounouchi managed to ask before Yami interrupted him.

"Don't give up! Remember this card?" Yami held out the Glory of the Kings Right Hand card before Jounouchi. He then picked up the two star chips on the ground. "These star chips are proof that you are a duelist. Take one of mine!"

Jounouchi took the little star chip like it would break if he touched it. He stared at it then looked back to Yami.

"Yugi… Are you serious?!"

"Shall we go win those prizes?" Yami asked, not answering Jounouchi's question.

After a moment of what seemed like hesitation, Jounouchi's fist finally closed on the star chip. "Let's go to the Duelist Kingdom as Duelists, to save Grandpa, and your sister!" Jounouchi nodded slowly but I could see the determination in his eyes. "We've got one week left, so we'll train in Duel Monster strategies until then!"

"You bet!" Jounouchi exclaimed.

Suddenly, the blond got a strange gleam in his eyes. "And I know my first opponent!" He whirled to face me, pointing to me like I was a criminal. "You better get ready, Christine, cause I'm coming for you first!" I couldn't help but smirk at it.

"You think so, Jounouchi?" I raised an eyebrow. "I guess we just have to find out."

Yami looked like he wanted to protest but stopped and sighed. Jounouchi giggled like a child as he ran over to where he and Yugi were going to start putting together his deck. When no one seemed to be looking at the both of us, I gave Yami a very surreptitious wink, making him laugh and have to move away from me.

You better watch your back, Pegasus. We're on our way!

 **That good? It was mostly info to get started on the road to Duelist Kingdom but next week will be the boat and meeting the competition! Excited!**

 **See ya soon!**

 **RobynHood3**


	3. The Boat

**Getting better with the updating! I hope you all are enjoying this so far! It took a lot of time and effort to write all of this out so I'm glad to see you all like it! Sorry this one is a little shorter than previous ones. I tried to separate them out in even intervals and this one was a little more difficult to get out.**

 **Disclaimers! I don't own anything of Yu-Gi-Oh! I only own Christine, my OC. I also make a Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged reference and just want to let you all know that I am not Little Kuriboh and don't own it!**

The week before we had to board the ship to Duelist Kingdom was hectic to say the least. Jounouchi and Yugi trained like madmen to make sure that they were in top dueling shape to do well for both of the people they were fighting for. Grandpa and I helped where we could but we mostly left it up to Jounouchi, he would get it sooner or later.

On the night the boat would depart, I made sure to dress for both the cold nights and the warmer days on the island. I had my sky blue sweater with my tank-top underneath with a black skirt and my white overcoat. I made sure to pack a light sweater for Yugi just in case he got cold as well but I didn't think he'd need it. Anzu and I didn't know if food was going to be given for the competitors so we both agreed to bring some sort of sustenance for our dueling friends as a contingency plan. We left the game shop as a group to make sure we all arrived at the dock by 9:00.

"It's so cold." I heard Anzu say, her arms creating some friction to warm her up.

"Uhh…" Honda drawled. "It's awfully quiet."

"Is there really supposed to be a ship out of here?" Jounouchi asked aloud.

Yugi pulled out the card that had the ship design on it and nodded.

"The date on this ticket says tonight!" He replied. "There's no mistake."

"Though which ship is ours?" I asked. "There has to be a dozen of them at least docked here."

My question was answered when we turned the next corner. There was no question, this ship was enormous. This ship had lights illuminating all sides of it. On the port side, aka the left side, were a whole collection of people. Jounouchi pointed to the ship.

"Does that answer your question?" He asked, teasingly.

I gave him a dirty look before whacking the back of his head and turning back to the lit up boat.

"Wow!" Anzu exclaimed. "Can you see all of the people?!"

"There have to be nearly 40 or 50 of them." I commented.

We all took a few steps closer and we noticed that they all had their Duel Monster decks in their hands.

"They've got cards!" Bakura, who was near the front of the group, exclaimed.

"They were invited to Pegasus' Kingdom too!" Yugi guessed. "They're Duelists, like us."

"Though I think the best word for all of these guys would be 'rivals'." I whispered to Anzu, who nodded seriously.

"Look over there!" Yugi pointed deep into the crowd.

If the gang knew the full details about my knowledge about this world, I would have groaned out loud. It was Rex and Weevil. "It's the guy with the insects who won the last tournament! And the runner-up!"

"Man, tough crowd…" Jounouchi muttered to us seriously.

I could tell that both boys were slightly nervous about this but I knew that they had trained so hard and I knew that they were ready to do win. Jounouchi had gathered his deck with mostly monsters but he had spells that would boost those monsters greatly. Yugi stuck with many of the cards Grandpa gave him, like Exodia, but added his own flair to it.

"We have to win!" Yugi announced. "Everything rides on these decks."

A new light was turned on at the side of the ship. Three men walked out and I nearly sniggered loudly. Here comes one of my favorite jokes in the entire show.

"Attention, Duelists!" Kemo shouted down to us. "Industrial Illusions welcomes you to this event! We have researched your tournament records and even unofficial duels and hand-picked the best Duelists Japan has to offer! A light shines above each of your heads, where any one of you could reach it! Now is the time, Duelists! Come! Cross the seas! Reach for that light! To Duelist Kingdom!"

Many of the Duelists cheered at the incredibly cheesy words. I only rolled my eyes.

"Attention, Duelists." I whispered in my imitation of Kemo to Jounouchi and Yugi. "My hair is telling me that it is time for you to board! Anyone caught without a crazy hairstyle will not be permitted to enter the Duelist Kingdom!"

There were sniggers from Jounouchi and he leaned back to whisper to me.

"Yuge is safe." He whispered and the both of us sniggered as Yugi turned around to give us both a dirty look.

To prove I was sorry, I quickly pulled Yugi into a hug but based on my continued sniggering, I doubt he believed me. Suddenly, someone else started laughing and this person probably didn't hear my joke. We all turned to see a tall blonde woman wearing an assortment of purple leather and a white corset top that exposed a little too much skin for this weather. In slight discomfort, I pulled my jacket closer to me.

"It's almost like a pep rally for little kids!" The woman laughed. "But I guess it is mostly kids here. Hee Hee… Haven't seen any competition yet."

Jounouchi's and Honda's reaction was instantaneous, both of their jaws dropped at the sight of this new woman. Yugi was slightly oblivious and only questioned whether or not she was a Duelist as well. His question made her turn around and his face turned a beet red. "Hey, you're Yugi, right?"

"Umm… Er…" Yugi spluttered, trying to respond to her question.

"What a surprise!" She exclaimed as she leaned closer to get a better look at Yugi. "How could a little boy like you beat Kaiba? You're famous, you know that?"

"Err… Thanks…" Yugi replied.

My eye flinched but I held back my temper. This wasn't the time or place to freeze things. Though, with the flames of jealousy that Anzu was throwing off, I'm pretty sure she could melt anything.

"Excuse me, ma'am!" Honda suddenly butted into the conversation. "I'm the best friend of the famous Yugi! My name is Hon-"

"I'm Jouno-"Jounouchi was saying at the same time.

"Whatever." She quickly snapped. "In a duel, it doesn't matter if my opponent is a little kid. Because any person who stands in my way… will be crushed!"

Yugi and Jounouchi both sweat-dropped at that notion. The woman took her leave, running toward the entrance of the boat. As she passed me, I coughed from the amount of perfume that went up my nose. Ugh... This was why I never wore perfume. "My name's Mai Valentine." She called back to us. "See you later… boys!"

"Boys!" I growled. "Hardly!"

"Whoa, Christine!" Anzu and Bakura both had to hold me back as my temper escaped me at the statement. "Don't let her rile you up!"

Our conversation was lost on the other three boys as they were too busy smelling the perfume that Mai had left behind. "Idiot! Morons!" Anzu shouted at them and it my turn to hold her back from killing our friends. When we had finally settled down, Yugi and Jounouchi led the way.

"Okay! Let's get on board!" Yugi exclaimed.

"Aww yeah!" Jounouchi agreed.

We walked on the ramp and after we settled on the bow, or the front, as the horn bellowed and the ship began to pull out of the pier. There was no turning back now.

This boat went pretty fast despite its size. The wind blew through my hair but I didn't bother fixing it as we all went back inside the ship.

"Attention, Everyone!" Kemo called over the chattering Duelists. "I will show you to your rooms. Please follow me."

"With a ship this big, the rooms have to be top-notch!" Jounouchi exclaimed at us.

All of the Duelists followed the taller man through the insides of the ship. Our group stuck together with me standing next to Yugi when someone spoke to the spiky haired boy.

"Excuse me..?" The voice asked, just loud enough so we could hear him. "Yugi? You're Yugi Motou, aren't you?"

Yugi and I both turned to see who was speaking. Great, that green hair and the disheveled mess.

"That's me!" Yugi nodded his head then recognized who he was talking to. "Ah! You're Weevil! And Rex!"

"Heya!" Rex called in a sort of greeting reminiscent of Jounouchi's.

"Congratulations for winning the tournament, Weevil." Yugi made simple small talk.

"It was nothing." Weevil brushed off.

"It was only because I went easy on him!" Rex shrugged nonchalantly.

Sure… I drawled in my mind, of course you went easy on him. It was completely obvious from the way you panicked when Weevil played his trap card. Yugi could probably tell what I was thinking as he elbowed me with a raised eyebrow. I chuckled and returned to listening to his conversation.

"Y'know, we'll probably duel when we get to this Kingdom, Yugi!" Weevil commented. "I'm looking forward to it! To tell you the truth, the tournament doesn't mean much to me. I can't really call myself champion if I don't defeat you and Kaiba first."

Kaiba… If he were able to legitimately participate in this tournament and it were actually fair, he would wipe the floor with Weevil and Rex in an instant. Though, if he and Yugi were to duel again, I would have to cheer for Yugi since he was probably more sportsman-like than his contemporary. "So Yugi, have you heard? Apparently, there will be new rules introduced to Duel Monsters at the tournament in Duelist Kingdom."

"Really?" Yugi asked. "New rules?"

"I'm not too sue on the details but… I've heard that there will be more strategy than before."

"Aww, who cares about the so-called 'new rules'?" Rex scoffed. "It has and always will be kill or be killed!"

That was pretty disturbing but it wasn't uncommon for many Duelists to think like that. Kaiba for instance, he used his powerful monsters to put his enemies at a disadvantage while he used his spell cards to make sure that there was nothing that his opponent could do to deter him. Rex used his cards to the same extent but his were mostly dinosaurs while Kaiba's had a small array of different types. My thoughts were interrupted by Jounouchi shouting suddenly. We all glanced over to see the blond shouting to one of the suits.

"Whaaat?!" He shouted. "You gotta be kidding me! Whaddya mean we sleep in this room?! There are no beds!"

"We don't even get beds?!" Honda exclaimed as he ran up behind his friend.

"How cheap! A boat like this has to have plenty of nice rooms!"

"Only the finalists from the previous tournament have been given private rooms." The man in the suit replied curtly.

"Heh heh…" Rex laughed. "Sucks to be you! We get the luxury rooms!"

I gave Rex a glare as he continued to laugh. Selfish bastard, I thought. He turned back to me, a strange glint in his eyes. "Though, a lovely lady like you is always welcome to join me." I scoffed.

"No thanks, Rex." I huffed. "I would rather stay with my friends."

Rex raised an eyebrow and when he finally realized I wasn't going to go with him, he turned on his heel with a scoff and walked off.

"Yugi… In some ways, this room might be better than our private rooms, y'know?" Weevil was telling Yugi. "The sponsors were probably aware of it when they assigned our rooms. See for yourself!"

Yugi turned around and gasped. I didn't since I was still glaring off in Rex's direction.

"Oh! Everyone is trading cards!" Yugi seemed awfully surprised by that.

"Right!" Weevil seemed to commend. "Since everyone's together here, you can trade cards and improve your deck! And maybe sneak a peek at what kinds of cards your enemies have…"

Now that was plain cheating right there. I tore my eyes away from Rex to give a small look to Weevil before the green haired boy spoke again. "Your friend seems to fit right in!" And sure enough, Jounouchi was weaving his way through the crowds of Duelists, looking through their cards and trading for those that would help him. Hopefully…

"Whatever!" Rex scoffed from his place down the hall. "If your deck isn't perfect now, there's no hope for you winning the tournament! Good luck on 'improving' your deck! I'll be chilling in luxury!"

"Well, seeya later!" Weevil bade farewell before he began down the hall in the same direction Rex was going.

Suddenly Mai arrived and began to shout about the same things Jounouchi and Honda had only minutes before. Though she also added on the fact that there was no shower.

"Those are the rules, miss." The same man from earlier told her.

"I want to talk to who's in charge! Now!" She shrieked in fury.

"Hey, chill out, girlie." Rex called. "If you keep whining, they'll throw you off the ship!"

He turned back to her with the same look he gave me. "Of course, you can always crash in my room!" To my slight disgust and horror, Mai agreed immediately. Jounouchi and Honda both glared at him as the two went off. I whacked the both of them upside the head and walked off when they asked what they had done.

We had all settled in a small corner of the large room. I leaned back against the wall in-between Yugi and Bakura with Jounouchi, Honda and Anzu opposite of us.

"Well, let's just hang out here." Yugi said as he sat down.

"It'll be fun, like a sleepover!" Bakura said with a smile.

"This is probably the biggest sleepover I've ever been to." I muttered and Bakura and Yugi laughed.

"Awright, Yugi!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "Since we can't sleep, let's continue my training in Duel Monsters!"

"Okay!" Yugi exclaimed back and the both of them began dueling in 10 seconds flat.

They dueled for more than an hour with varying degrees of success for Jounouchi. He still made amateur mistakes, like forgetting trap and spell cards, but he was getting better with the increased practice. When Yugi said that they needed a break, we all walked out onto the deck and looked out to the ocean. I looked over to Yugi and saw that he had pulled the video player that had Grandpa in it out.

"Ahh, the ocean breeze is so refreshing!" Jounouchi breathed.

"Yugi…" Grandpa suddenly spoke up. "Something's just keep bothering me!"

"Huh?" Yugi questioned.

"What is it, Grandpa?" I asked, leaning over.

"Why is Pegasus gathering all of these Duelists here?" Grandpa asked aloud. "There's something strange about this event. It's just a feeling but…"

"I think so too…" Yugi softly interrupted his grandfather. "But we have to go. I'll defeat Pegasus and put your soul back in your body. So don't worry, Grandpa!"

The determination in Yugi's eyes made me actually consider that Yami had taken control for that instant but the eyes were still the solid amethyst that belonged to Yugi. I guess that Yami being there was actually making a difference in Yugi as well as Yami.

"Oho…" Grandpa said. "Someone's here."

Sure enough, there were footsteps coming toward us from behind. We both turned and I mentally groaned one once again. I've had enough of Weevil for one night. I walked over to Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu and Bakura as Weevil and Yugi talked. They spoke about Jounouchi being ready for this competition. The blond was confident in his abilities after his week of training with Yugi and I agreed with him. We turned around when Weevil exclaimed happily.

"This is my strategy!" He tossed a few cards and they floated down toward the sea.

No…. Exodia!

We all jumped to lean over the edge and I was pushed out of the way by a leaping Jounouchi. I screamed as he hurtled down toward the water.

"Jounouchi!" Yugi called down after him.

"Just wait!" I heard the faint voice of Jounouchi. "I'll get 'em!"

I saw the splash of the blond's collision with the water and soon began to panic. The ship is moving so fast, he'll be left in the middle of the ocean if we don't get him! I quickly glanced around and soon caught sight of the rescue ladder. I quickly pulled it off the wall and over to the edge of the ship. Carefully aiming so it wouldn't hit Jounouchi's head, I attached the ladder to the side and sent it down toward my friend.

"Jounouchi!" I shouted down to him. "Get onto the stupid ladder right now!"

"I can't find all of Yugi's cards!" Jounouchi shouted back, his voice faint from the ocean breeze.

"They're only cards!" I retorted. "Your life is worth way more than five cards that someone can gather another day! Besides your sister needs you right now!"

Jounouchi didn't retort but I was relieved when I saw him grab onto the ladder. When I finally turned away, it was the exact moment when Yami had taken control and setting up his first duel of the Duelist Kingdom.

"That's it!" He shouted. "When we get to the Kingdom… I'm taking you out first!"

Weevil smirked like the over-confident bastard he was and walked away with a cackle. Yami growled angrily but he reigned in his temper to help me pull the rescue ladder up. Jounouchi had only gotten two of the cards but Yami forgave him, their revenge would come when he took out Weevil. The suits were at least nice enough to give us a few towels to get Jounouchi dry again but he'd still have a cold by morning from his little swim.

Yami stayed in control for the rest of the evening, probably just in case Weevil came back for another crack at him. Apparently even Grandpa couldn't tell the real difference between the two just yet as Yami talked to him about the loss of the cards but I didn't listen in. We slept for a few hours and I was shaken awake when the sun began to rise. "Morning." Yami greeted.

"Morning." I grumbled back as I stretched. "We there yet?"

"The island just came into view a few minutes ago."

"Awesome."

With help, I stood up but Yami refused to let go of my hand. This again? "Yami, you'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about being fine." He almost snapped but he breathed, reigning in his temper. "I'm concerned about you."

"Oh?"

"Pegasus knows about how you care about Yugi, what if he tries to use that against us?"

I hadn't considered it but it was a considerable worry. What if Pegasus tried to pit our friends against each other in an attempt to make sure that Yugi never made it to the castle? Nevertheless, I smiled and tightened my grip on the hand holding my own.

"Don't worry." I said. "If anyone does try to mess with us, I know that you and Jounouchi will be able to handle it and I'll just freeze them to the nearest tree if they continue to bother us."

That got a snicker out of Yami. I've been making him laugh a lot these past few days, I thought to myself. "I'm a comedy genius apparently." I thought aloud.

"Though I'm not forgiving you for that hair comment from last night."

I groaned. He heard that? "Don't hate on the hair."

"I'm not!"

Yami chuckled but he didn't release my hand. We walked out to the bow where the rest of the gang were standing and watched as the island came closer and closer. Faintly, I could see Pegasus' castle. Though, before we have to deal with the King of that castle, we had to deal with the worm who lingered at the bottom steps.

Weevil was going to get his just desserts today.

 **Enjoy it? I really hope so!**

 **See you all next week!**

 **RobynHood3**


	4. A 'Buggy' Duel

**Hi guys! Sorry this is a little late, two weeks is better than a few months eh? College is a little crazy right now. Having at least a test and a quiz this next week, I want to at least post before it gets even crazier.**

 **We have our first duel! I tried to cut it down as much as I could be have enough of the important pieces of it.**

 **I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I only own Christine my OC.**

It took at least another half hour or so for the boat to reach the small pier on the side of the island. The crew ran rampant across the deck, setting up the ramp that would set all of the Duelists off, before they called for everyone to exit. We were one of the last groups off the boat but that didn't slow anyone down.

"We're finally here!" Yami said to us, like he needed to announce it.

"Awright!" Jounouchi cheered. "I'm ready for this!"

Unfortunately for Jounouchi, now came the slight cold. "Ahh... Ahh… ACHOO!"

"Bless you." I quickly said, handing him a tissue from my bag.

"Thanks." The blond muttered back.

"I'm sorry, Jounouchi…" Yami apologized. "Because you tried to save my cards, you're…"

"Aww, this?" Jounouchi wiped his nose one last time with the tissue. "It's nothing! What really ticks me off is that jerk who threw your best cards into the ocean!"

As if on cue, I heard the slight cackle of the bug themed Duelist and had to resist the urge to freeze him where he stood. Based on Yami's glare toward the other Duelist, I could only assume that he was thinking the same thing, though with much more blood involved. I elbowed him lightly to wake him up but I could tell that he was still thinking about it.

"All Duelists head towards the castle for an important announcement!" Kemo bellowed over the crowd, scaring a few of the Duelists.

I dreaded all the stairs we had to climb but I kept quiet. Yami must have dreaded this as well, having to climb the stairs and being so close to Pegasus and yet have to climb all the way back down to have to earn the right to come back up.

"It's really a castle!" Anzu said, her eyes wide. "Wow!"

We climbed a few more staircases until we reached the gates of the castle and Kemo' voice appeared again.

"Upon arriving, wait in front of the gates!" Kemo bellowed once more. "We will now explain the rules!"

Near the top of the castle, a door opened and Yami, who stood next to me, flinched lightly and his fists clenched. He was dressed nearly the same as when he dueled Yami, with his crimson suit and his long silver hair covering the eye that was a solid gold.

"Welcome, everyone!" Pegasus greeted with a smile. "Welcome to Duelist Kingdom! Allow me to explain the rules of this very special tournament! The duels will take place with official Duel Monsters cards only, of course! I hope you all brought your most powerful decks! Of course, if you're not completely confident, you are allowed to trade with one another. Each of you should have already received a duel glove and two star chips, correct?"

For emphasis, Pegasus pulled out an example duel glove and a small gold star "At this time, please put the glove on your right hand!" Yami pulled his out from the bag where I was holding onto it and placed the lone star he had into an empty slot. I glanced around and saw that everyone was doing the same. "On the glove you should find 10 crevices where you can place your star chips. Please insert your two star chips into them now. These stars are essentially your life as a Duelist! Whenever you duel in this tournament, you must stake one or more chips on the outcome!"

Our whole group suddenly became deadly serious. With both Yugi and Jounouchi only having one star chip each, they would be prey to all sorts of crazy Duelists. "The first Duelists to win 10 star chips will win the honors of entering the castle! Only they will have a chance at the prize!" Pegasus then seemed to look right at us with an entertaining expression. "The duels will begin in exactly one hour! The time limit for the game is 48 hours! Once the time runs out, those with less than 10 star chips will be eliminated! They will be declared the losers and deported from the island immediately! Now, Duelists! I pray for your success!" With that, he turned his back on the crowd and walked back into the castle. Yami glared at his back but knew it was better not to call him out.

The hour went by extremely slowly. We all stood by the bottom of the stairs, sitting in near silence as we waited for the beginning of the tournament. I took the time glancing at the faces of the Duelists that passed by. They seemed determined to win the glory and money that the tournament would give them; to them, we all probably looked ashen faced and bored with being here. Soon enough, our patience was rewarded when the dueling was allowed to begin. We all began to walk and after what seemed like eternity, I glanced down at Bakura's watch and saw that only two minutes had passed.

"Okay." Honda breathed. "Let's check this place out!"

"This island is so peaceful." Bakura took a deep breath. "It hardly seems like the right to play Duel Monsters."

"I can agree with that." I replied.

The place did have a sort of calming attribute to it. I couldn't help but be calmed here but I shook off the feeling. It may have to do with the Millennium Eye.

"Look!" Anzu pointed toward some Duelists who were sitting at the side of the path we were on. "Those people aren't playing either! I guess we're not the only ones who don't know what to do."

I could only agree with her. The rules weren't very specific about how the duels were going to proceed. We walked a few feet further until Jounouchi pointed to a sign.

"Hey, there's a sign over there!"

We all ran over to see it a little more clearly. It was a simple sign, one arrow pointing to the forest, the other to a lake a good distance away. "A forest to the left and a lake to the right."

"Let's go to the forest." Yami finally spoke up. "I saw Weevil go this way."

"Okay then…"

We followed the forest path and we all kept jumping when birds shot out of the trees. As much as the island was tranquil, this forest still creeped me out. Jounouchi apparently agreed with me as he said the word aloud.

"Hey, Yugi!" A shrill voice called out.

Everybody turned and glared at the green haired boy a few feet away. He had his arms crossed with his deck in his right hand. Yami's near glare nearly killed as he stared Weevil down.

"Heh heh..." Yami chuckled. "At least you have the courage to face me!"

Though I highly doubt he is the smartest cookie in the jar, I thought.

"Of course, Yugi!" Weevil gave a strange smile. "I mean, if I beat you first, the rest will be easy! I challenge you to a duel, right here, right now!"

"You asked for it!" Yami barked.

"There's a place to duel right here in the woods." Weevil replied civilly. "This way."

Weevil walked off with us behind and I took the opportunity to somewhat berate Yami on his outburst.

"Yami, you need to chill." I whispered. "Exploding like that is only what Weevil wants."

Yami gave a harsh huff. "You know I'm right."

"Yeah, I hate it when you're right." Yami whispered back.

"Please?" I asked. "Just keep your head on straight for this."

Yami didn't reply for a minute until the clear dueling box came into view.

"I promise."

Both Weevil and Yami entered the box and sat for a moment, simply glaring at each other. I was tempted to simply yell 'Get on with it already!' but I was beaten by Weevil commenting on how Yami was already down to one star chip.

"You do realize that if I take your last star chip, you're out for good, right?" Weevil gave a smile as he pulled out one of his star chips. "I guess I only need to stake one, then…"

"No…" Yami interrupted darkly. "You'll stake both of your star chips."

"What?" Weevil asked, his eyebrow raised.

"I told you-I'm taking you out first, remember? Kill or be Killed."

Yami pulled out his only star chip and set it on the table beside him. "I'll stake one star chip… and my life!"

I immediately face palmed. We were really back at this again?

"Christine?" Anzu asked, pulling everyone's attention to me. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah…" I huffed. "Just slightly disappointed that we're back at this again."

"This?" Bakura asked.

"You know, the whole…" I gave my best impression of Yami. " 'If you win, I'll take my life.' Sigh. I thought we were through with that."

"So, he does this often?" Anzu asked.

"Yeah." I sighed. "Though he normally wins when he does it so I guess that's why he's still doing it."

Everyone seemed concerned for a moment but I guess that they figured that the duel would go our way. We turned back to the duel as more spectators came to watch the first big duel of the Tournament. Please don't let this be the first time you have to follow through with your silly idea.

Both of them began with simple monsters, Weevil with Killer Needle, and Yami with Mammoth Graveyard. Both monsters had the same attack power but somehow the bee was able to defeat the large bone mammoth; though it was only a few seconds until the bee began to decay as well.

"Listen, Weevil!" Yami said, a confident smile on his face. "I figured out that new rule the moment I sat down at this table! It's a shame you're only an insect to me!"

Weevil glared murderously across the table but Yami didn't seem all that fazed. " 'Why did Pegasus decide to hold his tournament on an island?' I couldn't get the question out of my head... However as soon as I sat down at this duel table and saw a landscape displayed on the screen, I solved that puzzle. The island consists of several microclimates. This 'field screen' shows the landscape surrounding us for 40 meters in each direction. Depending on where the battles take place, the monster cards get a field power source to make them stronger. In this game, it makes a difference where the island you choose to duel!"

It reminded me of when we first began to play Duel Monsters in school. How Jounouchi got so mad at Honda because he played his zombie on the graveyard field and got a power up. "I know why you led me to the forest, Weevil… because it puts you insect cards at an advantage!"

"If my secret's out, then let's fight!" Weevil pointed menacingly at Yami. "I'll turn this forest into your grave!"

The duel continued as Weevil continued to play insect monsters. Yami's newly summoned Feral Imp didn't really stand a chance against the opposing beetle, making his life points drop to 1350, as another new rule was revealed. As the field was mostly forest, it also gave Weevil the advantage on when he could attack.

"No way!" Honda exclaimed. "Yugi's losing to Bug boy!"

"He's not losing, per se…" I huffed.

"Yugi!" Jounouchi cheered. "Don't give up, dude!"

"I'm sure Yugi has some awesome strategy in store!" Bakura expressed hopefully.

As Weevil continued to strengthen his weak insects, Yami continually placed monsters in defense mode. Yami had only a face down card by the end of it as most of his monsters were destroyed. He must have been trying to draw something as he gave a small smile before summoning the Dark Magician and placing it in defense mode.

"Oho…" Weevil gave a laugh. "The Dark Magician…! That's one of your best cards, isn't it? Instead of indiscriminately raining doom on you, like I was planning, I'll destroy that first! Basic Insect Laser Cannon! Attack!"

Yami chuckled and I knew that Weevil was in trouble now. "What's so funny?"

"You said 'attack', right?" Yami taunted. "You can't take it back now!"

"Huh?!"

"Remember that card I played face down?"

Yami flipped it to reveal the trap card, Mirror Force, a seriously overpowered one! "My mirror barrier reflects your attack back in all directions!" The attack from the laser cannon was reflected back toward Weevil and in many different explosions, all of the insects he had summoned were destroyed, reducing his life points to 450. "Heh… You must have won the tournament by dumb luck. Maybe, just maybe…" Yami gave a very confident smile there. "The weakest player on this island is you!"

"Oh, yeah!" Jounouchi cheered. "Now do you get it, bug boy?!"

"You don't even come close to Yugi!" Honda cheered as well.

"To fight a trap card with a trap card!" Bakura complimented. "Yugi's amazing! He went beyond his opponents trap to set up a counter trap!"

"Nice job, Yugi!" Anzu cried.

"Tee hee hee..." Someone laughed. "That was smooth, all right… But Yugi-chan's only taken a small lead."

Yugi-chan…? My fist clenched and I seriously contemplated freezing the person to the tree behind her. I didn't need to turn around as I had recognized the laugh and Jounouchi and Honda called out her name.

"Mai Valentine!"

"A Duel Monster's game can go from victory to defeat in a single turn!" Mai said, probably thinking she was above all of us. "It's too early to get cocky!"

"Like you would know how a true match went." I muttered and apparently she heard me. She gave me a pointed look which I happily returned. "And what's with the whole 'Yugi-chan' thing? Yugi is not a little kid!"

"Listen…" Mai sighed. "Weevil Underwood is the Japanese Champion! He is a master planner with several winning strategies! The real duel is just starting!"

"I gotta agree with Mai, Anzu." Jounouchi suddenly said.

"Yeah, me too." Honda agreed.

"What's with you guys?!" Anzu shrieked.

They both looked at me, hoping that I would have understood, and knew they were in trouble. The only reason they weren't frozen to the nearest tree was because there were witnesses around and I wasn't really in the mood to lose my temper right now. I gave a nasty glare before turning back to the duel but I continued to listen in.

"I mean, of course Yugi's gonna win, right?" Jounouchi asked all of us. "But that doesn't mean he can let down his guard!"

That was true… Now that Yami was more confident with the new rules, Weevil wasn't going to make this duel any easier for him.

"Yugi!" Anzu called. "Beat Weevil quickly!"

"Go for it, Yugi!" Jounouchi called as well.

"You can do it." I said much more quietly, not feeling the urge to shout, but still knowing that he would hear me.

"You'll regret this, you big haired freak!" Weevil shrieked. "Now you've really made me mad!"

"Talk is cheap." Yami said smirking. "Take your frustration and send it to me through your cards! And I'll give it back to you!"

Weevil clenched his fists but then smirked. "Your side's looking a little empty, Weevil. Don't you think you should play some monsters?" Quit riling him up, Yami. This duel is only going to get even crazier once Weevil manages to summon his ultimate insect.

Weevil did summon a monster, a caterpillar like monster, in defense mode. Yami didn't attack with any of his stronger monsters but did what was 'smart' and used his monster recovery card to pull them back into his deck and sent little Kuriboh to set off Weevil's trap card. I thought I was insane for a moment as I was sure that I saw the little puffball look over at me and puffed out his imaginary chest. The trap card made Kuriboh explode and lost Yami a good 300 points but he was still in the lead. He played Beaver Warrior and ended his turn but Weevil started laughing suddenly.

"You fool!" Weevil exclaimed. "You've done exactly what I wanted!"

"What?!"

"This is my Trump Card!"

Weevil pulled a card out of his hand, called Cocoon Evolution, and equipped it to his caterpillar. The silk strings wrapped continually around the small monster until it looked exactly like a cocoon from the science textbooks we had at school. Yami had only five turns until the Great Moth appeared and his death was assured. What didn't help was that because of the forest, the cocoon got a 600 point boost to its defense, making it impenetrable to the majority of monsters.

Yami tried to break apart the cocoon with Gaia the Fierce Knight but he only lost a few hundred life points with nothing to show for it.

"Oh no, Yugi!" Anzu called.

"Haven't you defeated that stupid cocoon yet?!" Jounouchi exclaimed.

"It'll be a little more difficult than that." I sighed, regretting the words already.

"Exactly." Mai agreed. "Nobody's beaten the Cocoon of Evolution combo, what can Yugi do to stop it?"

Luckily, Weevil couldn't summon any monsters while the cocoon was on the field so Yami still had a chance to win but I could see he was getting antsy.

"You can't lose, Yugi!" Anzu called again to the box.

"Hang in there!" Honda cried.

"Yugi!" Jounouchi called as he ran up to stand beside me as I was the closest to the box. "We came to this island to win the honors of the Duelist King! You can't lose here!"

Yami turned to his friend, a sort of blank look on his face. Jounouchi elbowed me in the stomach. I turned to glare at him but Jounouchi only gestured in Yami's direction. I rolled my eyes but said the first thing that came to my mind anyway.

"Dumb idea: Let's just burn down the forest!" I gave a peppy smile. "That'll probably work!"

Jounouchi looked at me like I was insane but I ignored him and turned to look at Mai as she began to talk.

"You amateurs talk too much." She sighed. "Once a Duelist sits down for a match, the only person he can believe in is himself! A real Duelist wouldn't even pay attention to you shouting 'Yugi!' 'Yugi!' all the time…"

"No!" Anzu nearly shouted. "He'll listen! Yugi will hear our feelings!"

"Just you wait…" I muttered to myself. "He'll show you…"

I turned back to the duel and my day was made when Yami was giving us all a thumbs-up. He had figured out how to beat it! Though what had triggered it? I thought about the conversation but nothing came to mind.

"Here I come!" Yami placed one of his cards down onto the field. "Curse of Dragon! Combo attack: Flames of Hell!"

The skeletal dragon came forth and a large inferno was set loose from its mouth. I held back the flinch from seeing the flames. The inferno was in there and I was out here; I was safe and Yami was safe, for the time being.

"I told you it's no good, stupid!" Weevil shouted across the table. "The accursed dragon's attack power is 600 points lower than the cocoon!"

"Who said I was attack the Cocoon of Evolution?" Yami taunted. "You just assumed that! What I actually attacked was… The forest itself!"

I was suddenly pulled into a hug, knocking my concentration out of the duel.

"You're brilliant, Christine!" Jounouchi cheered.

"What did I say?!" I exclaimed, then remembered that I had jokingly said to burn down the forest. "Put me down!"

Once Jounouchi did so, I quickly turned back to the duel. Yami had called an attack on the cocoon and it was moving strangely after the attack. Even though it wasn't the Ultimate Moth, a Great Moth would still prove a challenge.

"Who's laughing now, Yugi?" Weevil asked. "Who's laughing now? Has fear of the Great Moth shriveled your tongue in your throat?!"

"Heh heh..." Yami laughed. "I was picturing in my head how to swat that big mosquito!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

Unfortunately for Yami's monsters, the Great Moth can fly and cannot be hit by their attacks. Though, sadly for Weevil, the Heart of the Cards came through for us and Gaia the Fierce Knight was reborn as Gaia the Dragon Champion but the poison pollen from the Moth's attack caused him to lose attack points. Again the Heart of the Cards saves us. The Magical Mist was able to take care of the poisonous pollen and set the stage for my favorite Duel Monster: Summoned Skull!

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Yami asked when Weevil questioned why he had played a weaker monster against his moth. "Why I used the Magic Mist magic card?"

He got his answer when the Great Moth began to droop down, the water on its wings making it heavy and harder to fly. "That's right. The Magic Mist is the stepping stone for a combo attack with Summoned Skull! Because of the Magic Mist effect, Great Moth becomes more conductive to electricity and the demon's attack power goes up!" Summoned Skull's attack jumped up to 3100 and I cheered as lightning struck the large insect and sent Weevil's life points down to zero.

"Yes!" I cheered again.

"He did it!" Jounouchi cheered along with me. "Yugi won!"

I beamed at my friends until I heard the threatening from inside the box.

"Now get off the island, insect!" Yami yelled. "Or I'll pull off your legs one by one!"

That apparently scared Weevil enough to leave him alone but not me. As soon as the crowd of Duelists had dispersed and Yami had walked out of the box with his two new star chips, I grabbed Yami's ear like a mother would her child. "Ow!" He yelled. "Christine! What are you doing?!"

"No more threatening bodily harm…" I began to list. "No more betting your life…"

"Oh chill, Christine!" Jounouchi said with a smile as he pulled my hand off Yami's ear. "He won the duel, give him some slack!"

"After all that work, I get no congratulations from you?" Yami asked, a slight taunt and tease in his voice.

I was extremely tempted to just brush him off, simply saying 'good job' and walking off, but he would bug me for the rest of the day, maybe even the rest of the tournament, if I did that. With everyone in the group beaming at me, I caved. With a light sigh and a bright blush, I waved them to turn around and wrapped my arms around Yami's chest tightly when I was sure they weren't looking.

"Good job…" I muttered. "I knew you could do it."

Yami chuckled at the words and with his newfound height, rested his chin on my head.

"I'm glad I can reach your expectations."

Though I was happy that he had won the duel, my requests for the spirit still rang true in my mind.

"Though if there is any more betting with your life, we will have words."

"I know."

I pulled away from the hug, jumped up to kiss the spirit's cheek, and allowed everyone to turn back.

"Let's get out of this place, it creeps me out."

"Agreed!" Jounouchi shouted and we began onto the next area.

 **Hopefully you all liked it! I'll post the next chapter when I get some free time, probably after the tests and quizzes and everything clams down.**

 **See ya'll soon!**

 **RobynHood3**


	5. Jounouchi's First Duel

**Hey guys! I'm getting better! I just keep getting distracted by Markiplier playing Sister Location! Holy Cow is that game scary!**

 **Christine's character is a little strange in this one, even for me, but it happened! Hopefully it doesn't detract you from the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I only own Christine, my OC.**

We walked along the trail out of the forest as both Yami and Jounouchi stared at their duel gloves. The blond had taken his from Weevil after he lost so Jounouchi wouldn't worry about losing his star chips. Yami now had three stars while Jounouchi had only one. 10 stars each would get us into the castle. I walked in between Yami and Jounouchi but glanced back at the rest of our group. They continually looked at Jounouchi with a worried expression. I could understand their worry. As much as I believed in Jounouchi's ability to duel his way to the top, I couldn't help but still worry about him.

After what seemed like forever, we finally made it out and into a large grassy plain.

"Hey!" Jounouchi cried. "I bet the view is great from that hill! Let's go see!"

Jounouchi ran off as Anzu shook her head at the actions.

"Geez." She sighed. "This isn't a school trip."

We followed behind the blond up the hill as he looked off into the horizon from the top. At first he seemed calmed by the view then his face became determined and I could only guess what he was thinking about. Voices soon distracted us from the view.

"Look!" Anzu exclaimed. "Over there! And there! Look at all the Battle Boxes!"

"Heh heh…" Yami chuckled. "Looks like the other Duelists finally got over their cold feet."

Apparently Jounouchi and Honda thought it would be funny to look at me in that situation. I glared back.

"I didn't do anything!" I snapped.

"Sure!" Honda smiled.

"We believe you!" Jounouchi sniggered.

I was so close to freezing them but Yami took my wrist and shook his head, though he did have the sliver of a smile on his face. Ok, be the higher person, Christine, and just breathe it off. I took a deep breath and looked back to Jounouchi. The blond's gaze had gone to the Battle Boxes. "Awright! Next time, I'm gonna duel!"

"You better pick a weak one first!" Honda suggested.

I was going to say something to Honda about tact but Yami spoke up before I had the chance.

"Be careful when you choose the site for your duel, Jounouchi." Yami warned.

"Yeah, I know." Jounouchi nodded his head. "Based on the field you choose, your monster get weaker or stronger! I got it, Yugi!"

"Yes." Yami agreed with the statement. "The other duelists must have figured out the rules of this island by now. They'll stake out the areas that put their monster at an advantage and wait for a duelist to come by!"

"What field works best for you monster cards, Jounouchi?" Bakura asked.

"Well…." He pulled through his cards. "I have a lot of Warrior and Beast-Warrior cards…."

Jounouchi thought for few moments. "Hmmmm…." Even after a few minutes, he still had no answer. I decided that I would give him a hint.

"Where would you want to run if you had big, heavy armor on?" I asked the blond suddenly.

Everyone looked at me funny. "Come on, answer the question."

"Somewhere flat." Jounouchi replied. "If there were hills, I would get tired easily."

I raised an eyebrow and gestured to flat field beside us. Jounouchi's eyes widened. "Oh yeah! The plains would definitely be the best place for my monsters!"

"Then you should definitely stay around here." Honda added on.

Jounouchi nodded seriously as he clutched his deck tightly.

"We're done!" A voice pierced the air, making me jump a good inch or two off the ground. "Give me your star chips and leave!"

"Th-That voice…" Bakura managed.

"I'd be able to identify that voice from a few miles away." I muttered, making a near chuckle escape Yami.

"It's coming from that duel box!" Bakura pointed to the one that was the closest to us and we all made our way over to it.

"Run home to your mommy, little boy." Mai chuckled as she settled the new stars into her glove.

"I lost…!" Mai's opponent exclaimed into his hands.

"Mai Valentine!" Honda exclaimed.

"She already has four star chips!" Jounouchi called after looking at her wrist.

"I went easy on you because you're a girl…" The young man was still talking. "Serves me right. But that wasn't all! I couldn't pay attention because of that thing you were doing with your cards! How'd you do it!? How could you read your cards when they were still face down?!"

"That…" Mai chuckled as she looked back to her former opponent. "…is my secret!"

Yami elbowed me lightly and I knew his question. I leaned over to whisper my reply.

"No, she is not psychic." I whispered. "She does something but I can't remember at this present time."

"Ah…" Yami nodded. "If she was psychic, she probably would have acted a lot like you."

My eye twitched at the remark.

"Are you asking to get your ear pulled again?"

"No, ma'am." Yami gave me side glance. "I was just talking to myself."

I couldn't retort as Mai noticed us and skipped toward us.

"Tee Hee!" She laughed. "How are your duels going, Yugi?"

"Not bad." Yami deadpanned.

It was very entertaining watching Yami use the silent intimidation strategy in trying to make Mai duel him. I could see the words in my head said in the most innocent voice Yami could probably muster. 'Come on, say it! Do you want to duel with me?'

"Okay, I've decided." Mai finally said. "I want to have a duel!"

She took a glance to Yami before she quickly pointed over to Jounouchi. "I challenge you! Jounouchi!"

"Huh?!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "Me?!"

I sighed. That was the most intelligent thing you could come up with to reply to that? Well, I didn't blame him. If I were in his shoes, I probably would have said the exact same thing. Everyone in the group glanced unsurely at the blond, many of us wondering if he was ready to take on a challenge like this. "You won't run away, will you… little boy?"

Jounouchi flinched at the remark. His fists clenched and I could see his jaw clench. "As a duelist, of course I want to fight you, Yugi!" Mai continued on, though still noticing Jounouchi's reaction. "But with the rules of this island that's not a good strategy! Look at what happened to Weevil Underwood. First, I need to crush the weaklings to collect my star chips! I'll fight Yugi after that!" Though it was a good strategy for collecting star chips, it was a dirty one. If you simply took out the weaker duelists, there was no challenge to yourself and no gain for winning those duels.

"Jounouchi can't beat that woman!" Anzu gasped. "Don't accept her challenge!"

"Jounouchi!" Honda called. "If you lose even once, it's over!"

I don't think he's forgotten about that, guys. I thought to myself. Yami and I remained quiet as everyone else tried to convince Jounouchi not to duel with Mai.

"You should have Yugi accept the challenge for you!" Bakura pleaded.

"You tell him, Yugi!" Anzu cried as she tugged on his arm. Then she looked over to me. "Christine! Help!"

She was trying not to cry. Anzu didn't want Jounouchi's dreams to shatter in front of him. If I were in her shoes, I would have felt the same way but I knew better. We had to let Jounouchi work for his dreams, not sit back as we did it for him.

"Jounouchi!" Yami finally spoke as I was thinking. "Do your best!"

"I knew you'd say that, Yugi!" Jounouchi cheered.

Anzu's eyes became even more filled with fear and she begged with me to make him stop.

"I will only say one thing." I conceded.

Anzu's eyes lit up hopefully. I turned to Jounouchi and I gave a smirk. "Go knock her off her high horse for me." Jounouchi smiled.

"Christine!" Anzu gasped.

"We have to let him to do this, Anzu." I said, turning to her again. "We've taught him everything we could and now it is time for him to fully put it into play."

She stared at me for a moment before nodding.

"If I run away from here…" Jounouchi told us. "Then from now on, whenever I look at the sky or the mountains or the horizon out on the sea… Whenever I see such a good view, I'd remember that I was the coward who ran away! I don't want to be a wimp! Yeah, there's a part of me that's afraid… but if there's another me inside of me, then I want him to be someone really cool!" He glanced over to Yami with a smile. "Right, Yugi?!"

"Jounouchi…" Anzu breathed.

"Jounouchi…" Bakura breathed as well.

"I get it, dude!" Honda finally exclaimed. "Sorry I told you to back out!"

Jounouchi pulled out his deck and held it tightly in his hand, but still being gentle with the sensitive cards.

"I accept your challenge!" Jounouchi said, a confident smile on his face. "Mai Valentine!"

Mai's face became a cocky smirk and she waved him to enter the battle box. Before he entered, I gave the blond a tight hug.

"Don't let her mess with you." I whispered.

"I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask for."

I let him go and the entre gang settled on the outside of the box. They both settled their decks onto the table and seemed to glare at each other for a few moments.

"Good luck, Jounouchi!" Anzu cried.

"Get her, dude!" Honda called to his friend.

Jounouchi turned to us and with a bright smile, he gave a Rosie the Riveter impression.

"Awright!" He cheered.

Mai didn't seem very interested in our shenanigans as she was looking at her duel glove.

"You only have one star chip, don't you?" Mai asked, not even looking at my friend. "Then I'll bet one star chip, too!"

She placed it on the table while Jounouchi seemed to be hesitant about putting it down. If he lost, he would be forced to leave the island and Shizuka's eyes would be lost. "The field we'll fight on is 40% mountains, 40% grasslands, and 20% wasteland." The screen for the field must have turned on because Jounouchi jumped in his seat and stared wide eyed at the table.

"What's with this field?" He exclaimed. "This is unreal! It's 3D!"

"Idiot…" I muttered, face palming.

"Don't you start losing faith in him." Yami chastised me in a quiet voice.

He was giving me a side glance that held the air of a dirty look. I rolled my eyes at him and looked back to the duel.

"I'm not." I whispered and left it at that. 'You have a chance, Jounouchi, just be strong and be smart about what you do.'

Jounouchi stared at the field for only a moment longer before looking up at Mai.

"Mai Valentine." He began. "Can I ask you something before we start the duel?"

Mai raised an eyebrow at the question and tilted her head. "Why did you come to this island? For honor? For the prize money?"

"Both!" Mai answered immediately. "What else do you think?! If I win the prize money, I'll travel the world… No! I'll live in Paris for years and I'll buy all the Chanel and Vuitton that I want!"

"Heh…" Jounouchi chuckled. "That's a pretty weak reason to be here."

"Though a few items of Chanel would be pretty nice." I muttered to Anzu.

She sniggered and leaned over to me.

"Though no perfume though."

"Exactly!"

"Ahem…" A voice interrupted our conversation and we both looked over to where it came from.

Yami was giving us both a dirty look. "I'm sorry to interrupt you ladies but could you both look back to our friend's duel?"

"Yes, sir!" I mock saluted to him, only achieving in making him roll his eyes.

"How dare you!" Mai shouted to Jounouchi. "So what are you here for?"

"I'm here…" Jounouchi's eyes hardened in determination. "To save a life!"

Mai seemed confused at his words but brushed them off and they both went for their first hand of the match.

"Jounouchi!" Anzu called into the box. "Show that woman who's boss!"

Right off the bat, I knew this duel was going to be a doozy. Jounouchi was already panicking about how Mai knew what was in her hands despite not looking at her cards. Yami glanced at me, his question from earlier burning in his eyes, but I shook my head; I still didn't remember how she did it. Of course, she played her signature card, the Harpy Lady, and it received a power bonus from being in the mountains. Jounouchi attempted to counter with his Tiger Axe card and foolishly attacked. Harpy Lady could fly and that was the deciding factor in that fight.

Each turn, this whole debacle was getting worse. Mai just kept riling Jounouchi up as she continued to play cards without flipping them over to see what it was and Jounouchi was just throwing monsters out on the field without seeing the combo attack that Mai had ready for him. This continued until he was only at 810 life points.

"Aha ha ha ha!" Mai laughed from across the table. "Learned your lesson? You're nothing but prey to me!"

Jounouchi's face continued to contort into an expression of fear and self-loathing. It made me mad to see that expression and I continued to put up a strong foundation for him.

"Don't give up, Jounouchi!" I shouted.

"C'mon, Jounouchi!" Anzu shouted as well.

"Hey, you out there!" Mai suddenly called.

We both turned to see her pointing at Anzu. "What was it you said? 'If you shout, the Duelist will hear your feelings?' and you'll help him win? Then make this wimp win! He needs all the 'feelings' you've got!"

Anzu gasped while I made a very animalistic growl. "And here is some more free advice, boy. You can't become a true Duelist and play with your friends at the same time! Today's friends are tomorrow's enemies! That's what it means to be a Duelist! Duelist can't trust anyone but themselves! Take that to heart from today's defeat." Her words brought back a memory from my childhood and I couldn't hold back the shout that came out.

"And how would you know this, Mai?!" I growled out. "Is this from personal experience? Maybe you're just jealous that Jounouchi has people that he can depend on while you never did!"

Mai's eye twitched like I hit a nerve. I didn't shout anymore since Yami tugged at my wrist and Anzu shouted to our group outside the box.

"Aggggh!" She shouted, anger blowing over. "This is making me mad!"

Yami didn't seem very amused either. He managed to contain it till after he made sure that I wasn't going to accidentally freeze the entire battle box with them still inside.

"I'll make Jounouchi win!" Yami ground out clearly. "With just one word!"

Mai was confused at the statement but Yami didn't give her time to think about it. "Jounouchi! This is a riddle! Answer it! What's 'something you can show… but you can't see?' "

What? Does this mean? Yami figured it out before I could remember it? Well, that's Yami for ya. But his riddle…. It was the same riddle that Jounouchi had asked Yugi and I the day after Yugi put the puzzle together. It seemed forever ago, when the puzzle was a new occurrence in our lives.

"Aha ha ha ha ha ha!" Mai continued to laugh. "Yeah, that's a strategy! That's so going to make him win, all right! Sounds great! I wanna see this! I'm waiting!"

We all waited in silence as Jounouchi seemed to spiral from confusion to near defeat until his forehead scrunched up like he just thought of something. He opened his eyes and stared at Mai with a strange expression. What had he thought of? "C'mon! It's your turn! I haven't got all day!"

"I get it!" Jounouchi suddenly exclaimed. "I know your card trick!"

"What?!" Mai exclaimed back.

"By putting different perfumes on all the cards in advance… you're able to tell which cards are in your hand by smelling them! You can show the cards but you can't see the smell!"

Mai seemed horrified that Jounouchi figured out her tactic. I nearly faced palmed after Jounouchi finished talking. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten Mai's Aroma Tactics. That was why I started coughing after she ran by us on the boat. "Man! That weirded me out so much, I couldn't pay attention to the battle! I thought it was some occult stuff that Christine would show me! You freaked me out!"

Jounouchi smiled at me and I reluctantly smiled back. At least he knew what psychics actually were and could now see that Mai was now a fake. "But now, I'm onto your game, you faker!"

"All right, Jounouchi!" Anzu exclaimed.

"Go for it, man!" Honda exclaimed as well.

Jounouchi gave a smile to Yugi, thanking him, and gave all us a thumbs-up.

"O-oh yeah!" Mai nearly shrieked. "So you saw through my trick, big deal! You still couldn't beat me in a 100 years!"

"It's strange…" Jounouchi replied. "Just having my friends watching me… makes me feel like you're not so tough after all. I'll take you up on that 100 years thing!"

Mai raised another eyebrow at Jounouchi but the blond didn't let her retort at all. "Here I come! I play Baby Dragon! Defense mode!"

Yami stiffened at that. I remember when Jounouchi and Yugi were training for the tournament and Yugi gave Jounouchi that card and others that would help him. I stopped paying attention to the duel and thought back to the day that happened.

Jounouchi and Yugi had been training all day and sooner or later, the both of them were going to get hungry so I decided to make the both of them something to eat. From the kitchen, I could hear both boys talking and then, Jounouchi's voice became excited. "Hey, Yugi! I remember this box!"

"Yeah!" Yugi gave a light chuckle. "It's the box I used to keep the Millennium Puzzle in!"

"What can you see but can't see… right!"

"Now I use it to store my important cards!" Yugi made another chuckle then. "If I didn't, I'm pretty sure that Christine would take it from me."

"Yugi." I shouted from the kitchen. "I may not be in the room but I can still hear you."

"It's true!" Yugi argued. "You would have taken it from me if I didn't find a use for it!"

I said nothing as it was true. That was a cue for both boys to laugh at me before Yugi remembered something. "Oh yeah! Here, Jounouchi! Let me give you the card before I forget! You could take it to the island with you!" That was when I had come out of the kitchen with sandwiches for the both of them and saw Yugi fish the cards out of the golden box. "It's the Time Wizard! It can do lots of things! For example, if you use it with Baby Dragon, it can fast forward 100 years and turn the Baby Dragon into an adult!"

"Wow!"

"It's a super reliable card!"

"Though, just be careful of hitting a skull…" I bemused.

"Yeah…" Yugi agreed. "That wouldn't end well."

Jounouchi smiled and took the cards anyway.

"Thanks, Yugi!" He thanked. "And thanks for the advice, Christine."

A shiver down my spine shocked me out of the memory and I looked to the duel once more. Mai had her three Harpy Ladies out and Jounouchi was drawing a card, a scared expression on his face. 'What was going on again?' Then it came to me in a small flash from the Millennium Puzzle. Right…. Yami… "Yes! It's the Time Wizard!"

Mai didn't seem very impressed, only confused at the small wizard that looked like a clock. "Don't you know it? It [Time Wizard] can speed up time! It zooms forward 100 years and turns the Baby Dragon into an adult! Go Time Wizard!"

"Time Magic!" The Time Wizard chimed out and the world began to spin slightly. When everything became clear again, Baby Dragon had been replaced with a pretty menacing looking dragon. "Baby Dragon, Become the Thousand Dragon!"

"Hmph!" Mai scoffed. "So what?! That senile dragon is nothing! My Harpies attack is stronger! Kill it, Harpy Lady Sisters!"

I snickered. She hadn't noticed. I nearly laughed out loud when she had finally looked down to her now decrepit Harpies. Their attack had dropped from their augmented 2490 to the original 1300, making them easy pickings for Jounouchi's dragon.

"All right!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "Go, Thousand Dragon! Thousand Nose Breath!"

The Harpies were all incinerated in a blast of exploding flame that came from the Dragon's nose, and thankfully for me, I didn't even flinch at all. When the smoke cleared, the only thing left was dust.

"Nooooooo….." Mai whined. "I… I lost…"

"Yes!" Anzu cheered. "He did it!"

"Jounouchi won!" Honda cheered as well. "It's a miracle!"

Not really a miracle, I thought. I looked over to Yami as he gave Jounouchi a thumbs up for winning. Jounouchi took his star chip and raced out to celebrate with us. I gave him my congratulations before jumping on Yami. When no one was looking, I yanked on his ear again.

"Ok!" He yelled at me quietly. "What is with this?!"

"You know what this is about!" I whispered to him before sighing. "Yami, I know you and Yugi both want to help Jounouchi but at some point he is going to have to do this all by himself."

"I know!" He huffed.

I let go of his ear and the both of us followed after our friends. "I didn't want to see his dreams shattered." Yami admitted. "It would crush him." I nodded to the words, to prove that I wasn't heartless. "But I promise you that this will be the last time it happens."

"Thank you."

"But in exchange, will you stop tugging at my ear?!"

I shrugged with a small smile on my face.

"I guess that is a worthy compromise."

I heard Yami sigh and I giggled at the reaction. Some things would never change.

 **Did you guys like it? I hope you did!**

 **Will see you all soon,**

 **RobynHood3**


	6. Mako's Not A Freaky Fish Guy!

**I know... I'm horrible. College is being a real pain in the butt because all the classes think they are the most important and give you the biggest stack of homework without even batting an eye! Ugh... I'm sorry this took so long.**

 **Disclaimer: I only own Christine, my OC. I own nothing from Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything you recognize from anything else.**

I figured that Jounouchi would be happy that he now had two star chips but the uncontrollable laughter was beginning to be annoying.

"Jounouchi's spent the last 30 minutes just looking at his star chips and grinning!" Anzu whispered to the rest of us.

"I don't blame him!" Honda commented. "I still can't believe he beat that girl in his first battle!"

Jounouchi made another great laugh and I rolled my eyes.

"Jounouchi, calm down." I sighed. "You might pop a blood vessel."

The blond only continued to giggle. I sighed again. Man, my friends. Yami didn't make my life any better.

"Jounouchi!" He smiled to his friend. "Let's win the next one too!"

"Yeah!" Jounouchi cheered.

Not even a second later, a loud gurgle echoed around us and we all looked over to Jounouchi as he blushed brightly. He touched his stomach. "Hey, I'm getting hungry! When do we have lunch?"

"What do you mean?" Honda asked. "We didn't bring food!"

"We ate all the snacks on the boat, and there's no restaurants on this island!" Anzu added on.

"What?!" Jounouchi nearly shrieked. "We don't have anything?!"

I went to remind everyone that I had packed food as well, as we had eaten the food that Anzu had brought on the boat, but I was interrupted by Yami.

"That's a problem…" Yami pointed out. "The game lasts two whole days. We can't not eat or drink for 48 hours!"

I went to speak again but Jounouchi began to shout at Anzu about not being prepared for this, unintentionally making a sexist comment.

"Warning!" Anzu growled. "Sexist comment alert!"

Honda then pulled out his survival guide, claiming that he could find some mushrooms that would be edible. Soon enough, I was tired of being interrupted.

"Ahem!" I cleared my throat loudly.

Everyone turned to me, confusion in their eyes. "Thank you. If you all had been paying attention, I could have told you that I have food in my bag." To prove it to them, I pulled two bags of chips out of my bag.

"Food!" Jounouchi exclaimed as he ran over to grab them.

As soon as he was close enough, I pulled them out of reach. "Christine!" The blond whined.

"That was for the sexist comment."

After a moment of silence, I realized that I couldn't stay mad at Jounouchi for very long so I tossed him one of the bags.

"You're the best!" He cheered as he ripped it open.

"Anyone else want anything?" I asked, pulling open my bag to reveal the snacks I had packed.

Most of the group took water at that moment when suddenly, Jounouchi's bloodhound like nose picked up a scent.

"What's that?" He asked, sniffing again. "Something smells good!"

He had finished the bag of chips and after he tossed the empty bag into his own bag, he raced off towards the sea. "It's coming from the ocean! Let's go!"

"What smell?" Anzu asked us.

"Who knows?" I shrugged.

"Just like when he fought Mai Valentine…" Honda sighed. "His sense of smell is like a dog's."

We followed after Jounouchi until I began to see a small column of smoke in the distance and the smell of fish hit my nose. Sure enough, there was a small campfire and a number of fish cooking around the perimeter.

"Look at that!" Jounouchi grinned happily. "I found food!"

"H-He's right!" Honda stammered out.

This was awfully suspicious. Why would someone simply leave out food probably knowing that someone, like Jounouchi here, would come and take it? What if that was what the person planned all along?

"Nobody's here!" Jounouchi quickly jumped over the rocks we were sitting behind and walked over to the campfire. "Now's our chance!"

"Jounouchi!" Anzu scolded. "You're not gonna….! Stop! That's not yours!"

"Au Contraire, Anzu!" Jounouchi gave a bright smile back to us. "The law of the island is whoever steals the star chips wins! So stealing food has gotta be okay! It's part of 'The Game of Life'!"

"I'm never playing a game with you…."Anzu grumbled and I heard a distinct gulp from Bakura.

"I'm with Jounouchi!" Honda cried, jumping over to join his friend.

"You too?!" Anzu jumped over the rocks to try and stop them, quickly followed by Bakura to help.

"Oh boy…" Yami rolled his eyes.

"You can say that again." I agreed.

We both sighed at the sight before I finally starting laughing. "Come on, let's make sure they don't get themselves hurt." Yami nodded and the both of us walked over to the campfire.

Jounouchi had already grabbed one of the fishes and was poised to take a big bite.

"Man, that looks good!" The blond exclaimed.

"It smells great!" Honda agreed.

"Let's dig in!"

Even over the chattering of Jounouchi and Honda, I could still hear the sounds of the ocean. It reminded me of the beach trip we all had last year. I let a small goofy smile take over my face as memories washed over me. Everything seemed so simple back then; no one taking anyone's soul as blackmail and the only thing I really had to worry about was what Yami was going to tease me about next. I missed it a bit. Yami seemed to catch on to my train of thought and took my hand gently, making sure to use his leg to hide it.

"I'll make sure that we can go back to that." Yami whispered to me. "I promise."

I nodded but I don't think he believed that I felt any better. He didn't say anything as suddenly, another person jumped into the group. He had a light tan and thick black hair and was wearing only shorts, no shirt. He was kinda menacing as he held the sharp edge of a harpoon at us, a fish still speared on it.

"All right!" He shouted. "Put it down! Lowlifes! Eating someone else's fish! You're not getting out of here alive!"

"Wait!" Jounouchi shouted back. "We haven't eaten it yet!"

"Then give it back!"

I saw the person's duel glove, complete with three star chips, and figured he was a Duelist…. A Duelist who loved to carry a harpoon around with him….

"What are you anyway?" Jounouchi continued to shout. "You're not a Duelist?"

"What if I am?!"

"No way!" Jounouchi narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. "You're a castaway, right?"

That only served to make the newcomer extremely mad.

"Who's the castaway!?" He shouted to the blond. "I'm Mako Tsunami! Duelist of the Sea!"

Right, Mako! He was pretty cool, a likeable guy from what I remembered. Yami's hand tightened around my own and I raised an eyebrow surreptitiously. Oh…. Mako was shirtless and Yami thought I was staring… Duh… I snickered lightly before Yami gave me a small dirty look, telling me to stop making fun of his jealous tendencies, before he looked back to Jounouchi's argument. "So let me get this straight… You guys are…"

Mako's question wasn't apparently heard as Jounouchi was snickering now.

"Octopus…" The blond managed.

Mako wasn't amused in the slightest. He ripped off the octopus and threw it as hard as he could back into the ocean.

"Small Fry!" Mako shouted.

"Don't throw it away!" Both Honda and Jounouchi shouted. "We can eat it! Our octopus!"

"As I was saying…" Mako said as he was calming down. "You guys are Duelists too, eh?"

"Only those two." I replied as I pointed to both Yami and Jounouchi. "We're just here to cheer them on."

A glint entered Mako's eyes when he saw Yami but he did nothing that would be considered threatening. He turned to his fish, picking one up.

"Now then…" He said practically to himself. "These fish are just about done!"

He went to take a bite but stopped when he saw Jounouchi and Honda watching him with open mouths. "All right, all right!" He caved. "You guys can eat too!"

"You mean it?!" Jounouchi cheered. "Aww thanks, man!"

"Leave some for us!" Anzu cried as she took one of the sticks from the fire.

Yami took one for himself but I was a tad bit hesitant. Despite me trying to get over my fear of fire, and having some success, those fish were just a tad bit too close to that fire for my comfort levels.

"You can have one as well, you know?" Mako suddenly said and I gave a nervous smile.

"Oh!" Yami realized my hesitance and jumped over to grab a fish and handed it to me.

"Thanks." I muttered and looked over to see Mako's confused expression. "I'm… I'm afraid of fire so… I…."

"Oh!" Mako quickly waved his hands over his chest. "No need to explain! I understand."

I smiled and began to eat the fish. It took a half an hour for everyone to finish eating and we were all in a better mood afterwards.

"So, Mako..." Jounouchi began. "Did you enter this tournament for the prize too?

"You bet!" Mako gave a bright smile.

He crossed his arms and turned to the ocean, the smile still in place. "I'm gonna spend the prize money on a boat! Then I'll be able to fish again! I hear the prize is huge! I'm gonna get the latest sonar equipped boat! I'll get a big catch every-day!"

"A boat, huh?" Jounouchi asked. "That's a cool way to live!"

"I grew up watching the sea from the day I was born." Mako began to explain, not turning back to us. "It's just like a person to me… I can tell when it laughs and when it cries."

The Ocean Duelist jumped around to face us again. "But it works both ways! The ocean watches us too!" Suddenly, Mako's mood soured. He turned to face the ocean yet again. "A couple of years ago, I was out fishing with my dad, as usual. The ocean was in a good mood… But then… Its mood changed… The sea rose up and swallowed our boat! My dad and I were saved by a passing ship. We were lucky but our boat was gone! We couldn't fish anymore! It could be a coincidence but not too long before our boat sank, there was an oil spill not far from there! Those idiots angered the sea! They did it! With their...grrr... pollution!"

I felt bad for Mako then. I knew what it was like when you did something with your father and then you suddenly couldn't anymore. My experience wasn't as severe on bodily harm as losing a boat to the depths but I knew what it felt like to be ripped away from the thing that brought you and a family member together.

Back home, my lessons to control my powers were continually growing more strenuous but I still managed to make time for my family, mostly my dad and our insanity with Lord of the Rings. Soon enough, the crone, the elder of our circle, began to limit my time at home as my powers continued to grow beyond what she believed a 12 year old could control, believing that only the elder witches could help me. I barely saw Dad after that, I was barely home enough to even hear his voice; I missed him and my emotions were making it clear when my powers shut down for a week and seemingly more frequent as it continued. After a few lectures from the crone about not letting my emotions get the better of me, my anger and powers exploded; I had left her frozen to her seat, only her head visible under the large sheets of ice, before storming out. To this day, I still had no idea what truly happened until I had come too back at home. The crone didn't bother me again, mostly because she had a firm talking to from my mother and she may have been afraid of me because of the fearful gazes she threw in my direction whenever I was there with mom, and the restrictions on me had been lifted, making my life less stressful. I think back on it with hindsight and consider what she might have been thinking as truth but shake it away every time. "Well, anyway… Forget about me! Sorry to bore you!"

"We weren't bored, Mako." I smiled. "It was very neat to hear about how you feel about the sea!"

Mako smiled back to me. My whole group looked off into the horizon and we saw that the sun had moved a fair distance since we had sat down.

"Well, we better get going!" Jounouchi stood up and waved to Mako. "Thanks for the lunch!"

We all waved to Mako and began to walk away. We barely made it off the sand when Mako called us again.

"Hold on a sec!" He shouted. "Heh heh… I don't have time for small fry… But..."

Mako suddenly hefted his harpoon. "You're not getting away!" He threw it and I made a small shriek when it landed a few inches away from Yami's foot. Did Mako just throw a harpoon at my boyfriend? "Yugi, halt! I'm not dumb enough to let a fish get away after eating my bait! More so if it's a big catch like you!"

"Bait?" Jounouchi asked.

"The fish…" I sighed.

"This place is my turf!" Mako continued on with another chuckle. "I left bait for hungry Duelists like you! This way you guys come to me - on the beach where the fight's in my favor!"

It was smart, I had to admit. He figured out that there were no restaurants for the Duelists on the island so he was able to use the rules and hungry Duelists to his advantage. "Yugi! Let's Duel! You're the big catch I'm talking about!" Yami only gave a smirk.

"Very well!" He agreed. "I accept, Mako!"

"There's where we'll duel!" Mako pointed up to a battle box a few yards away and we all walked over to where it was situated.

Mako entered the box and was quiet as he waited for Yami to receive last minute good wishes before he began to duel. I made no mention of betting his life, which probably made him happy, and simply told him to do what he did best. The spirit entered the battle box and closed the door behind him. "My side of the field 'Umi', the ocean! Your side is 'Wasteland'! Is that okay?"

"Okay!"

The both of them bet two star chips on the outcome and the duel began. Sadly, Yami apparently didn't think through the whole idea that Mako was the 'Ocean Duelist' so he was extremely surprised that all of Mako's cards hid in the ocean side of the field. Yami's Imp didn't stand a chance against the power of a Kraken in its natural habitat.

"This is part of my field power source!" Mako smiled broadly. "The Sea Stealth attack! When I'm through with you, you'll have a proper fear and respect of the sea!"

"Did you see that?!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "That squid thing came out of the water when it attacked!"

"He can't fight back if his enemy's underwater!" Honda pointed out the obvious.

Yami had to get rid of that water somehow. Make Mako's monsters lose their power bonus and make it easy for him to destroy them. The 'how' of this situation was confusing to say the least.

"This is just the beginning, Yugi!" Mako chuckled. "You still haven't seen the true terror of the sea!"

Yami played his next turn safely as he played the Feral Imp in defense mode and after being goaded by Mako's innocent jellyfish monster, he attacked with the Imp equipped with Horn of the Unicorn. It was smart; water was more easily attacked by lightning attacks and it would harm the monsters within. Unfortunately, the jellyfish absorbed the attack and grew stronger because of it. The Feral Imp didn't last much longer as it was soon eaten by the Kraken that still lurked in the water.

Yami's next card was Silver Fang and he played the 'Mystical Moon' magic card to make him savage. An idea suddenly came to my mind then.

"The moon?" I asked aloud.

"Christine?" Anzu asked. "Everything okay?"

I glanced over to her, back to the duel, then finally nodded. The moon controlled the natural current of the ocean, the ebb and flow of the tides. What was Yami planning?

"Wa ha ha ha ha!" Mako simply laughed. "You'll only waste your precious life with that kind of card! You can't overcome the power of the sea!"

Mako drew a card and smirked. "Get ready, Yugi… This card's going to show you the true terror of the deep sea! Rise from the ocean floor… Leviathan!"

That didn't sound good. And it wasn't. Silver Fang was drowned in a tidal wave and Yami's field was covered with water except for one small spot. Yami used the one spot to play his Giant Soldier of Stone monster. Mako played even more sea monsters as he thought that Yami was finished but the spirit gave a chuckle. "Don't laugh unless you've got something to laugh about!"

"Mako!" Yami's grin even more. "I was waiting for this moment!"

"What do you mean?! You're trapped! There's nothing you can do!"

"I switch the Giant Soldier of Stone into attack mode!"

The giant soldier stood, adjusting to the small spot on the board while Mako continued to voice his confusion.

"Are you dumb?!" He asked. "My monsters are submerged! You can't see them! You shouldn't be able to attack them at all!"

"Heh heh…" Yami chuckled yet again. "I didn't say I was going to attack your monsters. I'm going to attack the moon! The card I played myself!"

The stone soldier thrust the sword into the air and the moon crumbled under the attack. As a result, the sea field began to rush back to where it was supposed to be. "The gravitation of the Mystical Moon raised the water level! Just like the real moon affects the ocean's tides! My moon card created a high tide, and improved your Leviathan's tidal wave power! Now that the moon is gone, Leviathan's power is reduced to half of what it was! The sea water has pulled away, leaving your monsters stranded helplessly on the shore!"

I giggled at the joke Yami then pulled, calling Mako's monsters 'small fry' when they were out of the water. He quickly ended the duel as he played Curse of Dragon and used the magic card Burning Land to destroy the sea monsters, winning the duel.

"Yes!" Anzu cheered. "Yugi won!"

"Hahahahaha!" Jounouchi laughed. "Smells like barbecued squid!"

"He came from behind and did it!" Bakura cheered as well.

I smiled at my friends then turned back to see one of the only Duelists on this island that actually was nice.

"Man!" Mako chuckled. "You really are good! You really are a big fish!"

"You're not bad yourself!" Yami smiled back.

Mako gave Yami the two star chips but didn't seem all that bummed about it.

"Oh well…" He gave a small sigh. "You took me down to my last star chip! But I'm not out of the game yet! I've gotta win to afford that big boat! I'll start over with one chip! And either you or me are gonna win!"

The two shook hands and both exited the battle box. Mako returned to his campfire while Yami joined us as we walked back toward the inside of the island. Yami and I walked beside each other and I elbowed him lightly to get his attention.

"Nice job." I commented. "Using the moon as your clutch."

Yami shrugged but there was a small smirk on his face.

"It's nice to be appreciated for once."

I elbowed him harder this time, but there was a smile on my face, and he laughed again. Boys…..

 **Hopefully you liked it! With the semester ending in a little over a month, things are bound to be even crazier but I will try to be good with getting updates to you!**

 **Thanks bunches! RobynHood3**


	7. A Puppet Duel

**I know! I'm horrible! I'm sorry! :'( I didn't mean to leave you all hanging but it has been complete insanity on my end of the universe. But I have not given up on this! I refuse to give up on this!**

 **Since the semester is almost over, like two weeks left, I should be getting back to a normal update schedule once I'm done with everything.**

 **I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything else that you may recognize. I only own Christine, my OC.**

As we walked away from the beach, I gave one last wave to Mako before he faded from sight.

"What a guy… Mako Tsunami." Jounouchi complimented. "There's something about him that you just can't hate!"

"I guess all the Duelists on this island are here with their own hopes and dreams." Anzu commented.

"Us too!" Jounouchi beamed.

"Well, everyone but Weevil." I quickly added.

That was met with a large amount of laughter and a high five from Jounouchi.

"All right, let's go to the next place!"

We walked for almost half an hour into the center of the island until we heard someone shouting for help.

"Let go of me!" The voice shrieked. "S-Somebody help me!"

All of us looked around until we found the source of the screaming. A boy, maybe only a little younger than the rest of us, was in a headlock by Kemo and being dragged away. The boy kicked and fought admirably but Kemo, being bigger and stronger, held fast. "Let go of me!"

"That's enough!" Kemo snapped. "Be quiet, kid! Tough luck! I can see your glove's empty! Now that you've lost all your star chips, you've got to get off the island!"

"That's not it!" The boy argued. "This weird kid stole them from me! He took my star chips and my cards too!"

"I don't care how you lost them!" Kemo shouted, finally losing his temper. "If you run out of star chips, you have to leave Duelist Kingdom! That's the rules! Just give up!"

We all looked to each other. That poor kid, he definitely received the short end of the stick in this situation.

"That guy in the suit must work for Pegasus." Honda commented.

"Oh yeah….?" Jounouchi drawled.

Uh Oh….. That didn't sound good coming out of Jounouchi's mouth.

"Please don't do what I think you're going to do." I immediately said aloud.

Unfortunately for me, he did.

"Hey, you!" He shouted at Kemo. "Let him go! Can't you hear? His chips were stolen! It's not the same as losing in a match!"

"Other participants are forbidden to interfere." Kemo growled with a smirk on his face. "Unless you want to be disqualified too!"

"Please… help… me…" The boy gasped.

I glanced over to the boy in Kemo's grasp. His face was becoming a light blue. I narrowed my eyes at Kemo.

"Can you at least loosen your grasp on that boy?" I asked, a hint of a growl in my voice. "He's turning blue!"

Kemo gave another scoff at my statement. At the reaction, I gave a smirk. "Besides, I don't think Pegasus can get you out of a murder charge." Kemo gave a disdainful look, to which I only shrugged innocently, but he did loosen his grasp, though not by much.

"Hey!" Jounouchi had turned his gaze to the boy now as well. "What'd the guy look like who stole them? I'll go and catch him for you!"

"Really?" The boy asked. "I couldn't see his face, he had a bandana on it. He challenged me to a duel out of nowhere… but the moment I put down my cards and star chips, he took them and ran off!"

"Which way did he go?"

"He went that way!"

The boy pointed down a path that led along the side of the island, probably a good idea if you're avoiding the guard infested center of the island.

"Hey, you! Man in Black!" Jounouchi shouted to Kemo again. "I'll go catch the thief – so don't kick this kid off the island!"

Kemo simply chuckled.

"I'll think about it…"

"Don't forget! I promise you as a man! Star chips are like a Duelist's life! I wouldn't forgive anybody for killing people…. Or stealing star chips! I'll beat him up!"

Jounouchi suddenly turned to the boy again. "Oh, by the way! If I catch that kid, as payment, I'm taking half of your star chips."

Without a second thought, I whacked him on the back of the head.

"What Jounouchi means to say is that he's doing this out of the goodness of his heart and he'll give all of them back, right?"

I pulled his ear lightly and Jounouchi immediately chuckled nervously.

"Of course!" He smiled. "That's exactly it!"

Everyone else sighed as we began to walk down the path where the thief had gone.

"Man, he's a terrible altruist…" Honda sighed.

"I'm working on it…" I sighed along with him.

"Have much hope?" Anzu asked.

"Not much at the moment." I admitted.

Yami gave me a raised eyebrow but said nothing. He knew I was right!

"All right, let's go!" Jounouchi cried.

* * *

We walked for what seemed like forever. We eventually reached a vantage point and could see a good portion of the horizon. "Rats! Where is he? No matter how much we look! We can't find that kid!"

"Maybe we should give up…" Anzu began to suggest but was interrupted by Jounouchi.

"Arrggh!" He groaned aloud. "If I find that kid, I can get my hands on half of his star chips!"

"Jounouchi." I simply said and the blond flinched.

"Look over there!" Yami interrupted us, pointing out to the sea. "A boat of Duelists is leaving the island!"

We all ran over to where Yami was pointing and saw the boat as well. Far below, I could see some of the Duelists that we had passed along the island. I wasn't surprised to see Weevil aboard the ship but I gasped when I saw the boy we had promised to help aboard it as well. Weevil was pushing all of the other Duelists around and they were giving him deadly glares; he was probably not going to last long on that boat.

"Hey!" Jounouchi gasped as well. "The kid who got his star chips stolen is on the boat too! Damn it! That guy in the black suit broke his promise! There go my star chips!"

I contemplated whacking Jounouchi again but sighed instead. He'd learn one day. I jumped when the bushes behind us rattled noisily and turned to see what was there.

"Yugi!" Someone had jumped out of the bushes.

He wore a dark hat and a bandana to cover his face. He seemed familiar with Yugi but I still somewhat sighed. How come I was still the only one that could tell Yugi and Yami apart!

"What the - ?!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "A bandana!? It's you!"

"Hold on, Jounouchi…" Yami held up his hand, asking Jounouchi to stop. "Looks like he's after me!"

'No he isn't! He's just going to ask for directions!' I wanted to joke about it but Yami would have just given me a look that simply said 'Now is not the time for joking', and he knew I hated that look. "Kid! You want to duel with me?"

The boy in the bandana nodded silently. "Okay! Let's do it in that battle box! Come with me!"

"Yam- Yugi!" I hissed. "What are you…?!"

Bakura took my wrist, shaking his head. I sighed. Great, my job as the conscious has been taken away. We followed Yami and the masked boy up the battle box and watched as they set up the field.

"Yugi…" Anzu breathed, a worried tone in her voice.

"He agreed to fight him just like that…" Jounouchi commented.

That's Yami for you…. I thought. Kinda eager to prove that he can win or something like that. Both he and the masked boy bet five star chips; if Yami lost, he would have to leave the island and his only chance to rescue Grandpa would be lost. "This is weird! Yugi's got to know that kid's the thief…"

"….So why did he accept the duel?" Honda asked us.

The duel began but I could feel Jounouchi's eyes on me. I glanced over to him.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Why did he accept the duel, Christine?"

I turned back to the duel. Of course, Yami was beginning to cream the kid. I then turned back to Jounouchi.

"Well, for starters, it's what he does…" I began. "…and I think he knows that kid."

Jounouchi didn't reply and we both turned back to the duel. Yami had summoned his Celtic Guardian to destroy the thief's Crocodilus.

"Why don't you give up now?" Yami offered. "This game isn't so easy that you could win with stolen cards!"

I could see that the thief was considering it but something hardened in his eyes. The boy jumped up and took all 10 of the star chips and tried to run out of the battle box. I was ready to freeze the door shut to make sure he couldn't leave but Yami grabbed the boy before he was able to reach the door. "Hold on!"

"Aggh!" The boy shouted as he fought against Yami's grip. "Let go of me!"

"I knew it! You're…"

Yami pulled off the boy's hat and I'm pretty sure all of us gasped. That raven hair and those dark eyes….. It was Mokuba! Kaiba's little brother!

"What th-?!" Jounouchi gasped. "That kid's Mokuba!"

"Why did Mokuba try to steal Yugi's star chips?!" Honda asked aloud.

* * *

We got both Yami and Mokuba out of the battle box when I noticed that Mokuba's hands were slightly red, a small amount of liquid coming through his fingers. The star chips must have punctured his hand. I felt bad when Jounouchi forcefully pushed Mokuba to sit on the ground. While no one was paying attention to me, I pulled the lone vial of elixir that I had brought with me out and a tissue.

"Mokuba, you weasel!" Jounouchi shouted to the boy. "I know you stole two of Yugi's chips! Give 'em back! You've got them in your hand!"

"I won't give them back!" Mokuba shouted back, like a petulant child, squeezing the star chips even tighter.

The red liquid came out a little more and I tried to take a step toward Mokuba. Yami took my wrist and shook his head. 'Wait a second.' He mouthed to me. I frowned but agreed.

Jounouchi looked ready to pummel the kid into next week but Anzu stopped him.

"Mokuba, are you still mad at Yugi?" Anzu asked.

"Of... of course I am!" Mokuba managed as he tightened his fist again.

I couldn't take it anymore. I pulled out of Yami's grasp and over to Mokuba. I dropped to my knees in front of him and held out my tissue.

"Can I see your hand, Mokuba?" I asked softly.

The boy narrowed his eyes at me. "Mokuba… You're bleeding, please, let me help you."

"Don't even bother reasoning with him, Christine!" Jounouchi scoffed. "He's not going to listen to you."

It was my turn to narrow my eyes at Jounouchi and I gladly gave into the urge to freeze his hand to his jacket. As the blond panicked, I turned back to Mokuba.

"Please?"

Mokuba seemed hesitant but he eventually moved. He quickly switched the hand that were holding the star chips.

"I may be angry at Yugi but I'm not angry at you, Christine." He said softly.

I smiled at him and took the bleeding hand. As I worked silently, Mokuba began to explain why he was still angry at Yugi. Kaiba was still in a coma, under 24 hour care at his manor and even the best doctors didn't think he would wake up. "But don't get the wrong idea… I didn't steal the star chips to get revenge on you! Feh… You guys think you're so smart! You don't even know why Pegasus had this tournament, do you?"

We all looked to Mokuba, surprise most likely very clear in our eyes. "I'll tell you why, Yugi! Pegasus wants to beat you – and gain control of Kaiba Corporation!"

I raised my eyebrow at the exclamation. What kind of corporate influence would Pegasus gain if he beat Yugi, the kid who beat Kaiba to rescue his grandpa?

"How would that work, Mokuba?" I asked, looking up from his hand. "Yugi has no standing in Kaiba Corp. Why would Pegasus think him a threat?"

"Pegasus created Duel Monsters and established himself as a young genius game designer but he still wasn't big enough… so Pegasus' company, Industrial Illusions, teamed up with Kaiba Corporation to develop the Virtual Battle Simulation Box! But then that day, he lost to Yugi in the last round of his theme park of Death. With the president of Kaiba Corp. in a coma, the stock plummeted! The management just got worse and worse! Pegasus took it as an opportunity and jumped in to buy the company! Pegasus made an offer to the Big Five, a group of men that help control the major aspects of the company. Now that my big brother is gone… the Big Five have all the decision-making power! They had one condition to his offer…."

Mokuba didn't need to say what the condition was, we figured it out. I traced my tissue along the last cut on Mokuba's hand then let go as Yami began to chuckle.

"I see…" Yami smirked. "So Pegasus is really looking forward to beating me, isn't he…?"

"Don't laugh, Yugi!" Mokuba growled at Yami. "Not even you can defeat Pegasus! No… Nobody in the world can beat him… Even my big brother told me he was invincible…"

That was definitely a damper on our hopes. That means that saving Grandpa was going to be a little more difficult than we had hoped. "That's why I came up with my plan… If I could steal all of Yugi's star chips, he'd be disqualified before he fought Pegasus. He wouldn't have lost a real match… so the agreement between Pegasus and the Big Five wouldn't count!"

"So that's why you came to the island?" Yami asked.

"No, it's not!" Mokuba snapped. "The Big Five brought me here! Because I have the key!"

Key? I raised an eyebrow.

"You have the key?" Yami also had an eyebrow raised.

"Key to what?" Honda asked.

"Two nights ago, the Big Five guys barged into my house! They were going to steal some documents from my big brother's safe! It was something they needed to complete the deal with Pegasus."

Mokuba then chuckled menacingly. "So I swallowed the key to the safe, right in front of them!"

"Oh my gosh!" I gasped. "Are you feeling ok?"

Mokuba raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" He said quickly.

"Mokuba, you swallowed a metal key….." I narrowed my eyes. "That will have some sort of impact on you…"

"It's better than those guys getting the documents they need!"

I sighed. I wasn't going to condone the behavior but the intent was admirable.

"Mokuba…" Yami went to speak but the boy interrupted him.

"Yugi, you might not believe this but… my big brother made 'Death-T' to get revenge on you. But his real dream is to build Kaiba Land amusement centers all over the world so poor children can have fun! That's why he dedicated his life to Kaiba Corporation! That's why I'll give my life to keep it safe! So when he comes back, he can finish his dream!"

Nobody said anything for what seemed like a long time. We glanced around at each other, asking with our eyes if it was safe to believe the younger Kaiba sibling. After everything Kaiba put us through at Death-T, could we actually believe that he could change? Though, even with all of that in mind, I had faith in Yami's penalty game; Kaiba would return and return to his slightly egocentric self but deep down, he would be a changed man. And besides, everyone had their own dreams, why couldn't Kaiba?

"I believe you, Mokuba." I finally said.

Mokuba jumped to turn to me, amazement in his eyes.

"I believe you too, Mokuba." Anzu dropped to sit next to me. "Now, can you believe in Yugi?"

Mokuba seemed confused at our words. He continually turned to look at both of us. "Please give Yugi his star chips back!"

"He'll need them to help you and Kaiba keep your company."

"I promise you, Mokuba!" Yami interjected, a fist tightly clenched. "I will defeat Pegasus!"

Mokuba's eyes widened but after a glance at his clenched fist, he looked back to Yami and nodded. They were only centimeters away from Yami getting his two star chips back when Kemo came back.

"Stop right there!" He bellowed. "Exchanging star chips outside a duel is a violation of the rules! One more move and you're disqualified!"

We all froze at that. Ah crap! "Heh heh… I finally found you, Mokuba! You sure led me on a wild goose chase… Now, I'm confiscating your star chips! C'mon, give 'em to me!"

Kemo grabbed Mokuba's hand and wrenched the star chips out of his hands. Mokuba nearly kicked Kemo really hard but the guy was too big for it to do much damage.

"Hold it!" Jounouchi jumped into the argument. "Two of those star chips are Yugi's! Give them back!"

"How many times are you going to make me say it?" Kemo sighed, dramatically. "The only way to get star chips is to duel for them!"

"Then I challenge you to a duel!" Yami pointed to Kemo but the larger man simply smirked.

"Heh heh… Sorry, I don't play games!" Kemo chuckled. "But if you insist, I'll arrange for a special opponent! Over there!"

We all turn around and I see a shadow inside the battle box. How did they manage to sneak past us?! We were here the entire time! We took a step closer and the recognition nearly knocked me off my feet.

"Kaiba?!" I gasped.

"Big brother…." Mokuba breathed out. "Or… something that looks like him…"

"No!" Jounouchi pointed into the box. "Look closer!"

I narrowed my eyes and saw that the Kaiba that I had seen wasn't really him, but a small puppet. The small wooden Kaiba sat on a man's lap and I could see the strings that control its limbs. I felt bad for thinking that little monstrosity was Kaiba.

"Y-Yugi…" The little Kaiba pointed to Yami. "You'll p-p-pay for what you did to me… R-r-revenge… revenge… revenge!"

I saw Yami's fists clench tightly and an animalistic growl came from his throat. I could understand why he was so angry. These guys were making fun of the greatest Duelist that any of us knew. I felt the brush of the magic of the Millennium Puzzle and the evil look on his face told me that this wasn't going to end well.

"That's your opponent, Yugi!" Kemo shouted to Yami, who only stood a few feet away from him. "Get in the battle box!"

Yami gave another growl and the magic bristled again. I grabbed his hand before he exploded. I nearly recoiled at the magic that was already coursing through his body but I held fast.

"Yami." I whispered but he did nothing to prove that he heard me. "Please, Yami…"

"He's insulting Kaiba!" He snapped. "I won't forgive them!"

"You don't have to!" I snapped back. "This is the same as Weevil, don't let them into your head! It's only what they want!"

While the expression on Yami's face may have calmed, the magic didn't retreat. I figured that this was as far as I was going to get.

"Why, you lousy jerks!" Mokuba shouted. "That's not my big brother! My big brother's in the hospital! Yugi! Beat that guy up!"

Yami nodded to Mokuba before he took one last look at me.

"Go get him, tiger."

I let go of his hand and he walked proudly into the battle box. Even from my few steps away, I could hear the voice of the puppet Kaiba.

"Today is the day I k-k-kill you!" The little wooden doll chuckled in its creepy way.

Yami's growl was very distinct but I said nothing to stop him, he would keep himself in check.

"Come on, Yugi!" Jounouchi called. "Beat that weirdo!"

"That puppet's messed up!" Honda called as well.

"You can do it." I said softly. 'You have to…'

I turned when I heard voices to see that Kemo and Mokuba were talking but I really didn't care enough to listen to their conversation. I turned back to the duel at hand. They had bet three star chips each and the duel began to be strange. The little wooden Kaiba was playing cards that were in the real Kaiba's deck… Yami countered with the Dark Magician and easily won the first battle but then…

"The d-d-dragon of r-r-revenge has risen from hell!" The little wooden Kaiba cackled gleefully. "Are you r-r-ready, Yugi?"

"What?!" Yami gasped.

The card dropped onto the field and the world literally froze. The signature roar and the blue eyes of Kaiba's most treasured card appeared onto the field.

"Be careful, Yugi!" Mokuba cried from his spot in Kemo's grasp. "Industrial Illusions sent a spy to steal Kaiba's cards! He's gonna use them to defeat you! Yugi… Please win! The moment you lose, Pegasus gets Kaiba Corporation!"

'Great.' I thought. 'No pressure.'

The little doll continued to pester Yami about being the real Kaiba and I could tell it bugged him. Yami tried to defend his life points by switching his monsters into defense mode but the little doll was ready for that, as his facedown card was 'Stop Defense'. Yami's Curse of Dragon was easy pickings for the Blue Eye's attack, knocking Yami down to 1000 life points.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Kemo laughed stupidly. "I bet Kaiba's happy – if he's watching from heaven!"

Mokuba shrieked in response.

"My big brother's not dead!" The boy cried. "Yugi! You told me that my big brother would come back! I… believed… you… I believed you! Where is he? I've waited and waited for him!"

I desperately wished to comfort him but with the boy incased in the grip of the security ape, it made it a little difficult. My only hope now was that Yami's actions would help instead of words. Thankfully, Yami pulled a miracle out of his sleeve when he played Magical Hats. He hid his Dark Magician inside one of the four hats and when one of them was destroyed by Blue Eyes, he added a Trap Card to the mix.

Blue Eyes attacked again and Yami chuckled.

"Good choice." He smirked and when the smoke cleared, he added another part to the statement. "Good choice for me, that is!"

The Spellbinding Circle, the added trap card, helped lower the attack power of Blue Eyes enough for the Dark Magician to destroy it but our celebration didn't last long as the second Blue Eyes was summoned and Yami's mage was destroyed. The doll mocked him for a minute before I recognized an expression that crossed Yami's face… He couldn't give up now!

"Then this is the end!" The puppet Kaiba cheered. "Go, Dragon! Destroy Yugi!"

Nothing happened.

We all glanced at each other for a moment as silence reigned. I turned to the Blue Eyes and to my surprise, the beautiful dragon seemed to be tilting its head in confusion as it stared at Yami. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the Blue Eyes White Dragon vanished into thin wisps of smoke. The small Kaiba slid off the ventriloquist's lap and hurtled toward the ground.

As soon as the puppet slammed into the ground, my stomach heaved. I was able to cover my mouth and Anzu helped me keep balance.

"Christine!" She gasped as she caught me. "Are you ok?!"

I took deep breaths and the sick-like feeling soon passed. What the hell was that? It felt a snap from a rubber band that you stretch too far and it finally breaks. Could this mean….? Kaiba woke up from his penalty game? He had put his heart back together?

I didn't think about it long as I had to stand up on my own again and look back to the duel. The Ventriloquist had gone to the defensive, only playing cards to ensure that he drew the final Blue Eyes at some point. Yami had a small monster in defense mode, Celtic Guardian and Mystical Elf out on the field by the time the white dragon had finally appeared.

"Attack the Mystical Elf!" The Ventriloquist cried. "White Lightning!"

"Trap card activate!" Yami cried back as he flipped over a card. "Mirror Force will reflect the attack!"

Sadly, the creepy puppet guy had Negate Attack waiting so the Blue Eyes wasn't destroyed. Though somehow, Yami managed to pull the tide back into his favor as he drew Monster Reborn and revived Kaiba's Blue Eyes. I couldn't help but agree with the Ventriloquist's statement about how the two dragons would destroy themselves. "No, I won't do that! Ever since Mystical Elf's been on the field, she's been chanting a spell! That chant is for a support spell that combines the attack of the monster on the field with her own!"

That means that Blue Eyes had 3800 attack points! He had enough to win the duel! "Prepare yourself! This is Kaiba's rage! White Lightning!"

The attack was near blinding but when the light faded, Yami and the Ventriloquist were the only ones left in the battle box.

"I… I… looosst…" The Ventriloquist moaned.

Yami stood from his seat and the brush of magic billowed again. I sighed quietly, I guess he needed this.

"Bastard!" Yami hissed. "Don't think this is over! My rage hasn't been satisfied yet! You stole Kaiba's cards… You fooled around with a worthless puppet of Kaiba's 'Heart'… I will never forgive you!"

The eye of Horus appeared on Yami's forehead and he pointed at his former opponent threateningly. "Penalty Game!" I didn't pay attention to the reaction to the punishment as Yami stepped out of the battle box.

"You did it, Yugi!" Jounouchi cheered.

"And you got your star chips back!" Anzu gave a bright smile at that.

"I've got Kaiba's cards back." Yami tucked the deck of cards into his bag and looked up as if remembering something. "Where's Mokuba…?"

The floor dropped out from underneath me. I had forgotten that he was here! We were so focused on the duel that we must not have noticed Kemo making a quick exit. As the gang went to search, I stayed in my spot near the battle box. It was no use…. Mokuba was gone…

In my frustration, I slammed my hand against the side of the battle box, freezing the entire wall. The battle box crumbled under the pressure and soon the wall collapsed. This battle box wouldn't be seeing any more action today. Yami heard the crackling and shattering of the ice and glass and ran over. He stopped to stand right in front of me but he did nothing to try and touch me. Most likely a safe bet as my hands were still glowing with ice. "Christine…" He called softly to me.

"I could have done something…" I hissed out. "Why didn't I freeze that bastard to the ground so that he couldn't get away!? Mokuba would be safe if I had done that! I'm so stupid!"

Frustrated tears came then. My powers faded as my arms fell to my side again. Yami said nothing but I was grateful for the hug that he gave me. I buried my frustrations as I wrapped my arms around Yami but the tears still came in a wave.

Pegasus was going to pay for this…

 **Hopefully you all enjoyed it! Have a good week and Happy Holidays!**

 **RobynHood3**


	8. Welcome to Jurassic Park!

**Hai! I'm done for the semester and Christmas was amazing! (Though I'm kinda done with 2016 taking so many famous people away... Seriously?! You had to take George Michael and Carrie Fischer all in the span of a week?! I'm so done!) *Sigh* Anyway... I'm back with another chapter for you guys!**

 **I own nothing from Yu-Gi-Oh! that is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, that genius man. I only own Christine, my OC.**

Despite my protests that Mokuba was already gone, Jounouchi managed convinced everyone to continue searching for the boy. I stood with Anzu until everyone came back.

"It's no use!" Jounouchi growled as he returned. "That brat Mokuba isn't anywhere!"

"As I said earlier," I sighed. "Mokuba was probably already taken back to Pegasus' castle."

"And we can't get into Pegasus' castle unless we have 10 star chips." Yami added.

"Which means we have a little ways to go."

Yami was a little more than half way there as he had six star chips while Jounouchi only had two. We had to find someone for Jounouchi to duel so that he can keep up.

We walked toward the center of the island and every time a Duelist crossed our path, Jounouchi would run up and ask for a duel. Each time, they would take one look at Yami, make an excuse, and then run away. It happened at least four times before Jounouchi began to get annoyed.

"None of them have will power!" Jounouchi growled out.

"Isn't there any other way…. They all run away when they see Yugi's face…" Anzu said.

"Or Yugi is just creepy looking." I attempted to joke for the first time in an hour.

There was a snigger somewhere in the group but there was no retaliation from Yami.

"Don't think I will just condone that…." Yami whispered threateningly. "I'm being nice since you were upset."

"Thank you." I smiled.

Yami didn't smile back but the comforting look in his eyes was enough for me. I know I shouldn't feel like this but I felt bad letting Mokuba and Kemo get away, I could have done something to help him but I was too focused on Yami's duel. Yami stayed beside me as we walked along the path, occasionally having to push me softly, so that I had no time stop and think, for which I was grateful.

"I think they think Jounouchi's a really tough enemy!" Bakura commented.

"They probably feel his aura of rage…" Honda teased with a glance over to Jounouchi.

"It's not my fault!" Jounouchi shouted to his 'friend'.

I chuckled over his reaction. Jounouchi was pretty overbearing when he wanted something, so I guess Honda had a point there; thankfully I was smart enough not to say that thought aloud.

Laughter rang out behind us. Ah crap…. Her again? I was getting sick of this voice.

"We meet again, Jounouchi!" Mai greeted from her spot at a nearby tree.

"You again?!"

"You look the same, just a bunch of pals klutzing around!" Mai teased. "What, have you turned into ducks?"

"D…. Ducks!" Jounouchi growled out.

I rolled my eyes. She was just trying to make us angry, and boy did she do that well.

"Yugi… Doesn't that annoy you?" Mai asked, turning to Yami. "Every time you're alone… they're always following you!"

Yami simply raised an eyebrow. What was she doing? If she got Yami mad, he would duel her and probably school her! Mai quickly turned to face Jounouchi again. "Jounouchi! Last time you got flowers and sparklers! This time, my man servant will beat you!"

"Man servant?!" Jounouchi asked, both of his eyebrows raised.

I nearly groaned when the Duelist stepped out from behind the tree. Great…. It was Rex Raptor.

"Heh heh…" Rex chuckled as he shot a winning smirk. "Been a while, Yugi, Jounouchi!"

Without even thinking about it, my head tilted slightly in confusion. Why would Rex want to duel Jounouchi? Wait…. I remembered the first time I read the manga and seeing how Mai utterly obliterated Rex and took his room on the ship. If Rex could beat Jounouchi, Mai would duel him again!

"I'll take you on!" Jounouchi exclaimed, angry flames erupting around him.

"Jounouchi!" Honda jumped in. "I really doubt…."

"I'm not a fucking duck!" Jounouchi growled, interrupting Honda.

"Of course you're not a duck, Jounouchi!" I interrupted both of them. "I keep repeating myself to all of you guys, but chill!"

Jounouchi didn't seem to take the hint. He narrowed his eyes at Rex.

"I'll do it!"

Yami said nothing but I figured that was him rooting for Jounouchi.

"We'll duel in that battle box over there!" Rex pointed to the box that stood over the nearest hill.

"Right!"

Rex ran off to the booth with Mai right on his heels, much like a duck, calling for good luck to her 'man servant'. We followed at a slower pace. I risked a glance at Jounouchi and I saw his eyes had hardened in thought before he finally looked over to Yami. "Yugi, can I ask you a favor?" Yami looked up to the blond and nodded. "I don't want you to give me any advice during this duel!"

Everything exploded. Shouts against the idea rang from every direction. Jounouchi kept his gaze on the battle box. "I know it's impossible… Inside my head, I'm telling myself 'What the hell did you just say, you freaking idiot?!' That's what I hear. I'm going to bet all my star chips in this duel… If I lose, it's all over, and I can't save Shizuka… but I'll win by myself! By winning, I'm winning for Shizuka too!"

I glanced over to Yami and I saw the sliver of a pride on Yami's face. There was a small flash and Yugi had returned.

"Yugi!" Anzu cried.

"The regular Yugi came back…!" Jounouchi gasped.

'Well, he was never really gone to begin with…..' I thought but didn't say.

"Everyone!" Honda rallied. "We need to cheer Jounouchi on!"

"Yeah!" Yugi cheered. "That's right!"

It was strange seeing the difference between Yami and Yugi. The childish boy was more gung-ho about cheering for his friend, while Yami would be a silent presence, as if he didn't want to be pointed out in the crowd. Though, I don't know if Yami really would want to be identified so easily, this was technically supposed to be Yugi dueling….

Jounouchi picked up his pace to the battle box and we all followed as fast as we could. I was proud of Jounouchi as well, it was time for him to strut his stuff. When we almost there, Anzu tugged at my wrist.

"Why do you think they switched?" She whispered to me.

I gave a side glance to her but she could see my smile.

"He's showing that he does trust in Jounouchi's ability to win." My smile widened. "And possibly he's keeping his word to me."

"What was that?"

The whole Time Wizard incident….. I groaned in my mind. Do I want to try to explain that to Anzu or just leave it be….?

"It's a little complicated." I sighed. "Nothing you need to worry about."

Anzu nodded and we finished our trek to the battle box. Jounouchi and Rex had already set up the field and had narrowed eyes at each other.

"You'd better win!" Mai called. "My cute little man servant! Your beautiful mistress is waiting!"

"Go for it, Jounouchi!" Yugi cried, trying to drown Mai out.

"Beat that Dinosaur freak!" Honda cried as well.

"Heh..." Rex gave a light chuckle. "The peanut gallery sure seems lively…"

Peanut Gallery?! I crossed my arms in displeasure and noticed Yugi glance up at me then shiver from slight freight. "By the way, how many star chips are you betting?"

"Right!" Jounouchi breathed. "I'm betting the two star chips I have!"

"Gotcha! I'll bet two, as well. I have the mountain field, and you have the grassland! The mountain field gives my dinosaurs a power up."

Well, that was very blunt; at least Jounouchi knew that now so that he was prepared to see the attack power of Rex's monsters go up and he had his own advantage in having the grassland field, which helped his monsters.

The duel didn't start out well at all. I figured that Jounouchi tried to use the same strategy he used to beat Mai, the Time Wizard – Baby Dragon Combo, but Rex's over-powered dino squashed the poor dragon before Jounouchi could try to use his strategy. "What are you, stupid?" Rex taunted. "Don't just put down random cards! Use your head a little!"

"Jounouchi!" Yugi cried into the box.

"Hold on, Jounouchi!" I cried as well.

"Aha ha ha ha ha!" Mai laughed. "I can already see the results of this match!"

I sighed, closing my eyes like it would stop her annoying laughter from being heard. I have been mad too much today, I would let her get past me this once. I opened my eyes again to see that more of the duel had occurred. Jounouchi had forgotten about the field power bonus and was getting creamed by the dinos that Rex kept pulling out of his deck.

The fight that Jounouchi was putting up was admirable but he continued to rush into battle without thinking of the potential consequences. He turned to us but turned back quickly, slapping the side of his face. 'You can do this, Jounouchi. Just believe in yourself!'

Eventually, Jounouchi placed a card face down and heard from Mai blatantly telling Rex that it was the Time Wizard and Rex commenting back that Jounouchi had no idea how to use its magic. I clenched my fists to stop myself from freezing the box. I was sick of people making fun of my friends…

"Because of the field power up, the Dinosaurs get, Jounouchi can't match their destructive power." Bakura told us softly. "I don't think he has much of a chance left!"

"Of course he has a chance!" I snapped. "He just has to find it!"

Apparently, none of my friends had faith in my statement, probably because my voice was shaking.

"Yugi, isn't there any way for Jounouchi to win?" Anzu asked.

Yugi looked up to Anzu then to the ground.

"There is one way…" He said quietly.

"Please… just give some advice to Jounouchi!" Anzu immediately begged. "If you don't, he'll lose! I know he asked you not to give him any advice but everything's over for him if he loses here! If Jounouchi loses, what about his sister Shizuka! I know you promised Jounouchi but it'd be really nice of you to give him a hand right now…"

Yugi seemed extremely tempted to do just that. The boy beside me kept glancing between Jounouchi and the ground, trying to think of something to do.

"How can you all call yourselves Jounouchi's friend's and not believe that he can win?!" I berated them. "I am almost ashamed!"

They cowered under my glare. "Please, just have some faith in him…." I wanted to go on but a shiver ran down my back. It was different than when Yami took over, perhaps it was the two of them simply talking. I went to turn back to the duel and something made me do a double take. One of Yugi's eyes was a bright crimson…. 'I hate it when he does that…' I thought. I didn't interrupt the two, I wasn't welcome in their conversation. Besides, Yugi needed the comfort from Yami that Jounouchi would figure out how to win.

The strength coming from us believing in him was enough, as if that didn't sound cheesy enough, because Jounouchi drew the Flame Swordsman. As fire was a weakness to Dinosaurs, Rex's card didn't stand a chance and Jounouchi was able to get rid of some of Rex's life points. At least fire helped someone and wasn't near me.

"Jounouchi!" Yugi cheered in triumph.

"Nice playing!" I cried.

"Take that Dino freak!" Jounouchi smirked. "This guy is my best of the best! Kiss your dinosaurs goodbye, cause now I'm going to beat the crap out of the all of them!"

That was a welcome sign! Things were going to get better!

"That was just a fluke!" Mai shrugged off the attack. "Jounouchi still can't beat my man servant!"

"Really now…?" Anzu asked, an eyebrow raised. "I wonder who lost to Jounouchi in the first place…"

I held back a snigger at that. Go, Anzu!

"Hmph! If he's alone, without Yugi's advice, he won't win!"

"We'll see about that." I muttered.

Jounouchi continued to pound Rex's dinosaurs into extinction until Rex's expression became a very terrifying grin.

"Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

Aw crap! The black dragon emerged and launched a fire ball at the Flame Swordsman, making it explode. The light in Jounouchi's eyes faded as I'm sure the fear of losing the duel came in again.

"Yugi!" Anzu turned to him again. "Jou has another way to win right?"

Yugi looked into the battle box and I think I knew what he was thinking. Jounouchi had to have faith in the Time Wizard again. If the spinner landed on a skull, then Jounouchi's monsters would self-destruct but if it landed on the time machine, he had the chance to win the duel! I jumped when Rex suddenly exclaimed.

"Jounouchi!" Rex called. "This is a trading card game! So let's make a little bet! The winner gets one of the loser's cards! So if I win, I want your Time Wizard!"

Jounouchi looked up at Rex with a strange expression, it was as if he had forgotten that the Time Wizard was even there. I wanted to hit my head against the battle box. How could he have possibly forgotten about it? "And if I lose, you get my Red Eyes Black Dragon! It's a premium card worth over a hundred thousand!" The prospect of money woke up Jounouchi completely. Really? Money?

"Wait just a damn minute, Rex!" Mai shrieked. "I won't allow that trading rule! You're my man servant so do as I say!"

"I never agreed to be your slave, dumbass!" Rex shot back. "Just shut up and let me handle this!"

The two continued to argue while Jounouchi thought. I smiled as he suddenly picked up the card.

"I'll put this card face up!" He announced. "I'm using the Time Wizard!"

Yugi jumped in excitement as Jounouchi finally caught on to the idea that the Time Wizard will save him. "Time Roulette go! When the roulette spinner stops, success will be Time Magic and failure will be self-destruction!"

I held my breath as the roulette spun and spun and only released it when it finally stopped. "Success!"

"Time Magic!" The little clock wizard chanted and the whole world began to go crazy; Objects spinning and wind blowing inside the battle box. Both boy's hair blew wildly, covering their eyes so that neither of them saw what was happening on the field.

When everything calmed down, all eyes went to Rex's side of the field. Every single one of his monsters had fossilized, destroying each and every one of them. It was over. Jounouchi had won!

"I lost!?" Rex gasped.

"Yay! He won!" Everyone, even Mai, cheered.

"What!?" Anzu suddenly turned on Mai and the blonde woman blushed brightly to being caught.

Jounouchi took Rex's star chips and Red Eyes and walked out of the battle box victoriously. We all ran over to him and each of us high fived him.

"Nice card playing, Jounouchi!" I smiled.

Jounouchi nodded, beside himself with joy. And he did this all by himself, and that was probably why he was celebrating so much. I didn't blame him just as long as he doesn't let this go to his head.

Jounouchi was finally entering the world of a real Duelist, but he wasn't every truly alone. We were all there beside him.

 **Ok, as I'm posting this, I'm looking at some of this amazing Yami Yugi/ Atem with OC fanart and internally screaming to the world. I love fanart, why can't I draw worth anything? My artwork is stick figures with javelins... Legit! Sigh... Sorry about it being so short; it's the chapter right after something big happened so there needed to be something short to wind down the tension, I guess.**

 **I'm trying to work out a schedule to post chapters on so I don't wind up with a big long gap between them. (Like a year... Shut up, Robyn!) I will post more soon, promise!**

 **Happy Holidays to all!**

 **RobynHood3**


	9. A Campsite of Duelists

**Hey guys! Back with chapter nine of this thingy!**

 **I'm also excited to see the new movie! My sisters and I are going to order tickets and see it during it's limited release and I'm screaming every time there is something spoilery out there on youtube. I'm going to scream and cry... But mostly cry.**

 **I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or anything that is familiar to anything else that is referred to in this chapter (I don't think there is but what do I know?). I only own Christine, OC.**

The island became a lot creepier as the sun fully set though nobody felt unsafe with the darkness. I relaxed myself as I thought about all the times I had been out in the woods at night. Once we couldn't see the path directly in front of us, we all decided to settle down and rest for the night.

"I'm hungryyyyyy….." Jounouchi whined. "Christine, do you still have some food?"

"Yeah." I said as well as nodded because of the darkness. "But I'd like it if we still had some food for tomorrow."

Jounouchi huffed but said nothing against my rational decision.

"Hey, what time is it?" Honda asked.

"Just around 8:00." Bakura replied, glancing at his watch.

"Wow, it got dark and quiet really fast!" Yugi gasped.

"It's nice…" I thought aloud as I reclined looking to the sky.

"How so?" Anzu asked.

"It's nice being out of the city for a little bit." I explained. "Being with nature for a while."

I'm pretty sure people would have agreed with me if we were here on better conditions. Yugi hadn't pulled out the camcorder that had Grandpa's soul in it all day but after the day was over, the strangeness of the situation came back.

"Haven't seen any other Duelists for a while…." Honda commented, mostly to himself.

"There aren't any guys who'd duel when it's dark out…." Jounouchi's stomach growled loudly. "I'm still hungry."

Jounouchi jumped up to his feet and shouted to the sky. "Shit, man! Screw star chips! I want some freaking food!"

"I'd like some potato chips instead of star chips…" Yugi moaned softly.

I felt bad that my friends were hungry but tomorrow was another day full of dueling and some food during the day was important if we wanted to remain strong when we made it to the castle. I wasn't going to say 'if', both Yugi and Jounouchi would make it to the castle and fight for the people they cared about.

"Hey, a mushroom!" Jounouchi crouched down to look at where the, thankfully edible, mushrooms were. "I'm gonna eat it!"

"Hey, don't Jounouchi!" Yugi called against the blond's actions.

There was a crack of a stick behind us and I turned around slightly. I nearly sighed. Her again?

"Jeez, what a crowd…." Mai chuckled as she finally stepped out of the shadows. "All of you seem so hungry!"

"Ack!" Jounouchi jumped. "Mai Valentine!"

Mai was smart…. To piss off every boy in that clearing, she took a bite of chocolate bar. "What the hell are you here for?!"

"This chocolate bar is really good!" Mai ignored the question. "How 'bout it, Jounouchi? I'll trade you my chocolate bar for your star chips!"

"Like hell I'd do that!" Jounouchi snapped. "These star chips are like my life!"

Mai simply chuckled at that.

"I'm just joking. Hey, if I really was that much of a low-life Duelist, I wouldn't have made you guys my enemies in the first place!"

Jounouchi flinched and made a light growl. How on earth would they become one of my favorite ships at this rate? "Don't look at me with that starving expression like you're going to bite me!" I was so concerned that Jounouchi was going to pounce on Mai that I had to grab Yugi and have him help me keep Jounouchi in his spot. Then Mai surprised me with her next question. "How about this? Why don't we call a truce for tonight? All of us are Duelists, right? We need to take it easy once in a while!"

"Huh?" Jounouchi stopped fighting Yugi and I so the both of us nearly fell over.

The both of us glanced at each other for a minute, questioning Mai's intentions, and when we found nothing wrong, Yugi walked into the line of vision.

"That's true!" He chirped. "We're all tired from dueling all day…"

"So you guys want something to eat?" Mai asked, pulling her bag off her back. I have all sorts of stuff! If we get a fire going, we can cook something."

If only to prove her point, Mai flipped over her bag and the contents of the sack came crashing to the ground. It was an impressive array of noodles, carefully packaged meat, protein and snack bars. She even managed to bring along a full sized tent and even a shower! Dang, she is awfully prepared.

"Wow!" Jounouchi gasped. "Awesome!"

"Food…. A tent… A lantern…." Honda listed aloud. "She has everything!"

"You brought all of this stuff yourself?" Anzu asked as she stared at the large array.

"Well, all the Duelists here are strangers that you can't trust." Mai replied. "So it makes sense to bring this much!"

Despite my internal misgivings that some of the Duelists here could be trusted, like Mako once you got to know him, but then I thought about Weevil and Rex and then I could understand where she was coming from. Mai turned to the boys, a bright smile on her face. "Alright, boys! The cooking is all your job!" Yugi didn't seem bothered by the thought but I added a thought in.

"Be careful that Jounouchi doesn't mess with the fire." I ordered sweetly. "We don't want a repeat of Jounouchi's Amazing Cream Pie."

"Shaddup!" Jounouchi huffed at me.

Yugi, Honda, Anzu and Bakura all laughed at the reaction. Mai simply looked confused but said nothing about it.

"You can leave the cooking to me!" Bakura announced as he picked up a few of the noodles and meat packets. "I'm pretty good at it!"

"And you can fetch some water!" Mai ordered Jounouchi and Honda.

I heard Jounouchi complain but Honda was quick to berate him, saying that they were going to get food and not to complain. Yugi and Bakura had walked over to where the two would set up a fire pit and get the food going and soon enough, it was only Anzu, Mai and myself left standing still.

"Yugi…." I heard Mai mutter. "I've only heard rumors about him… but right now, he's like a different person compared to this afternoon…."

Well, Mai could somewhat tell them apart. I looked over to Anzu to see what we should do but her eyebrow was raised nearly to her hairline.

"Same goes for you." Anzu said, her eyebrow still raised. "Why are you suddenly acting so nice to us?"

She looked over to the both us, a confused expression on her face. She soon smiled, a lonely smile.

"I'm a girl too…" She simply said. "24 hours is going to pass by really fast…"

Anzu and I turned to each other again. Well, she wasn't teasing us…. "You're all a strange bunch." Mai commented. "How come you two always hang out when them?" Strange? I tilted my head owlishly again.

"How come…?" Anzu trailed off before coming back. "Well, cause we're all friends!"

"And who says strange is a bad thing?" I asked. "Strange just makes things interesting."

The expression on Mai's face immediately said 'Uh-huh…' I shrugged it off. We definitely were a strange bunch.

"You're name was Anzu, right?" Mai asked, dropping our previous conversation. "And you're Christine? Once they come back with water, you can use it to take a shower. There's a shower tent right there."

Anzu and I both gushed thanks, taking a shower would feel fabulous after walking around in the sun all day! When both Honda and Jounouchi came back with the water, Anzu took a quick shower first then she and Mai guarded the tent for me. Mai was the tough chick that I know and love when she threatened the boys with coming over when Anzu was showering and the blush on Yugi's face was the cutest thing I had ever seen! While I washed up, I let my mind wander on nothing in particular until I heard a gasp of pain.

"Is everything ok out there?" I called.

"Yes!" Yugi was quick to cry back.

I didn't like the way he said that…..

"I may trust you, Yugi, but I don't trust the way you said that."

There was a bunch of shushing on the other side of the curtain; I figured that someone was nearly burned on a piece of hot pottery and brushed it aside. I finished my shower, changed and then joined my friends again. The food wasn't ready yet so I was able to brush my hair without worrying about spilling my food. Mai watched me curiously as I brushed it out. "Can I help you, Mai?"

"Do you do anything to your hair before you fall asleep?" She asked.

I pulled my brush away from my hair. Huh?

"No, I normally just leave it down. Why?"

"Come over here." She waved at me. "I have something that'll help with your hair."

Without a second's hesitation, I stood from my seat on the log near Yugi and walked over to Mai. She pulled at the strands, arranging them into what I thought was a braid. From my seated spot, I could see the entirety of our little campsite. Bakura and Yugi were still playing with the stew while Anzu was making sure Jounouchi and Honda didn't hurt themselves putting away the cooking knives. It reminded me of being back at the game shop with the gang and Grandpa. It was bittersweet. I shook off the thoughts, I didn't want anyone to catch on to my dark thoughts when we were actually in a bright moment. Mai played with my locks for a few moments longer before finally dropping her hands. I didn't get to thank her because the food was finally ready.

"Wow, this is really good, Bakura!" Anzu happily said as she took another bite.

"Thank you!" Bakura visibly brightened at the compliment.

It was good, though hot. We all took a few more bites before Mai spoke up.

"Better eat up, you'll need it for when the duels start up again in the morning." Mai told us.

"Yes, ma'am!" Honda cheered.

"The hell, Honda!" Jounouchi snapped at his friend. "You're not a Duelist!"

We all laughed at the exchange and continued to eat. In an attempt at small talk, Yugi began a conversation with Mai.

"You already have eight star chips, Mai, so you might be the first to reach the castle tomorrow!"

Mai remained silent for a second before looking up from her soup to look at Yugi.

"But I'll eventually fight you too, Yugi!" She reminded.

There was a small awkward silence that was broken by Anzu.

"Hey…." She began. "Forget the dueling for now."

"Nope." Mai interrupted.

"But we have a truce for right now…"

"In the morning, everyone's an enemy!" Mai looked at Anzu as she spoke. "That's what it means to be a Duelist!"

Nobody said anything at that. Mai must have really had no one if she thought life was all like this. It was a little sad. None of us, except really Jounouchi, could possibly have a chance to understand what she may be going through. "Thanks for the food." Mai said as she stood. "I'm heading back to my tent. Anzu and Christine, if you want, you can bunk with me. You never know what could happen with these guys around!"

"What was that?!" Jounouchi nearly shrieked.

I rolled my eyes at that.

"You're gonna need to watch your temper when Mai is around." I patted his shoulder. "She winds you up a little too easily."

"Apparently." Jounouchi huffed. "What an annoying girl."

I sat with the gang for a little while longer before wishing them all goodnight and settled down with Mai and Anzu. I took the spot farthest away from the opening to lay down and closed my eyes. It was nice to relax for a while after the crazy day we had today. We started with getting revenge on Weevil, then Jounouchi winning his first real duel, Yugi dueling Mako, us learning that Pegasus was after more than just Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and Mokuba's kidnapping, and Jounouchi beating Rex before we all settled down for the night. Mai and Anzu eventually joined me and I opened my eyes just as they began to talk.

"So you've always worked with cards, Mai?" Anzu asked.

Mai shrugged lightly. Maybe she didn't like to talk about it?

"See..." She eventually said. "I was a casino dealer on a cruise ship that travelled the world. Everyday brought rich opponents with experience and cards. All the time were countless men coming to make a quick buck."

Mai ran a hand through her hair, letting it then fall beside her. "Every single one of them fell for my aroma card trick. Eventually, I just came to hate people! All these greedy people looking only for money." Anzu and I glanced at each other, pity in her eyes, then we both looked back to Mai. "The reason I came to this island… was to restore my Duelist's pride… and my pride as a woman and also… to find something that used to be important to me way back when…" The blonde woman gave the both of a wistful look. "It's strange. Just looking at you all, for some reason, I keep thinking back…" She stopped herself there and gave a soft smile. "By the way…" She smirked over at Anzu. "You have a crush on Yugi, don't you?"

I burst out laughing at the bright blush that appeared on Anzu's face. The girl spluttered to argue against the question.

"Wh… What?! What's that got to do with anything?!" Anzu nearly shrieked.

"My woman's intuition is never wrong!" Mai continued to smirk at the brunette.

That did nothing to calm Anzu who continued to splutter and blush brightly. I finally stopped laughing but was in no mood to stop the hilarity.

"Calm down, Anzu!" I whispered. "We don't want Yugi to hear anything."

Mai sniggered but then the tables were turned. And the teasing was pulled to me.

"And what's with you?" She asked with a delicate eyebrow raised. "Yugi stood awfully close to you all day. Anything to add?"

I quickly shook my head, nothing was going on between Yugi and myself. The only thing was the spirit that took over his body every once in a while. That's a different story.

"There is one thing…" Anzu began and trailed off with a smirk when she saw my blush.

"Don't…" I began to threaten.

"Oh, I have to hear this." Mai smiled brightly. "Do tell."

"Christine is seeing someone." Anzu said vaguely.

"Oooh." Mai giggled. "Christine? Any details?"

My blush refused to go away. I knew I shouldn't have told Anzu about Yami and I being together. Bad Christine, bad! "Christine?" Mai pressed. Nope! Not talking about it!

"I'm going star gazing!" I quickly jumped up from my sleeping spot and ran out of the tent.

Even from a few feet away, I could hear Mai and Anzu snickering. I should just freeze them inside… Nah, that is where I'm sleeping as well. I'd best leave it be. You two win this round, but mark my words; I'll be back. I walked over to where the gang could still see me if they needed but I could see the stars much easier than through the trees.

Being this far away from Domino, the stars were much brighter than they would be with all the light pollution. I could see many of the constellations in the sky and it calmed me. I sighed though. It was depressing that the place that had the most visible stars had to be the place where we have to deal with Pegasus. A haven with a devil living on it. I sighed again, leaning my head onto my bent legs.

Suddenly, a stick snapped behind me and I quickly raised my head to turn around. I was relieved to see a scared expression and large amethyst eyes. "Oh, Yugi." I breathed a sigh of relief. "You scared me!"

"Sorry." He smiled sheepishly as he walked over to sit beside me.

"You should be asleep." I told him, a slight stern tone in my voice. "We have a big day tomorrow."

"I know." Yugi nodded. "Having trouble sleeping."

I hummed in understanding. I didn't have anything to help with sleeping so Yugi was on his own. "How come you're not asleep?"

"Mai and Anzu are picking on me." I sighed. "Stinking Anzu. I let one thing slip and now she's holding it over me."

Yugi chuckled at my dramatic sigh. He then fell silent and the silence spread to me for a few minutes. I looked back to the stars though the comfort didn't come all that easily.

"Hey, Christine?" Yugi finally asked. "I… Do you prefer to hang out with the other me?"

I straightened my spine and gave a confused look to Yugi. He kept his head toward his knees, like he was nervous to see my expression. Where had this come from?

"Why do you say that?" I asked, resisting the urge to try and take his shoulders to forcefully make him look at me.

Yugi didn't reply. My mind whirled as I tried to think through what was going through Yugi's head. "Yugi, I don't understand…."

"You always seem happier when he is out so I thought…. Yeouch!" Yugi shrieked in pain when I yanked his ear. "Not this again!"

"Ah, so you do remember that!" I chuckled but didn't let go. "I was worried that your silly other-self had gone and memory wiped that."

"Hurts!"

I let him go with one last chuckle then moved the arm to wrap around his shoulders in a loose hug. Yugi tensed slightly, probably afraid that I would do something to pick on him again, but he eventually relaxed. Based on his statement, I got the gist of what he was worried about.

"Yugi, both you and your other self are very important to me." I said softly. "I could never choose one of you over the other; I just couldn't!"

I stopped talking there; I was just embarrassing myself. Yugi was one of my closest friends now, especially for everything that he has done for me the entire year that I had been here. I couldn't and wouldn't abandon him. I tightened my hug and Yugi understood what I meant to say.

"EEEYAAAAAH!" A scream permeated the air suddenly and the both of us jumped.

It wasn't a scream that I could identify right off the bat as one of my friends but it did seem familiar…. Wait a minute….

"That was Mai's voice!" Yugi exclaimed as he jumped up.

Oh no! Anzu!

"Anzu was with her!" I nearly shrieked. "Oh, I shouldn't have run off!"

We both jumped to our feet and back to our campsite. While Yugi went to check on the rest of the guys, I checked the tent and was horrified to see that it was empty. Crap, crap, crap! Where could they have gone!? I nearly went into panic attack mode when I heard laughter a little ways away.

"This way!" Yugi cried and the both of us shot off into the trees.

We eventually came across a Battle Box and I thanked my lucky stars when I saw Anzu unharmed. She stood completely still with her back facing us.

"Anzu!" I called and the brunette girl turned around to gasp at us running toward her. "Thank Hecate you're ok!"

I pulled her into a hug and while Anzu accepted it, she fought to be released quickly.

"Yugi!" She gasped to the boy next to me. "It's terrible! Mai…."

"Yugi!" I heard Mai gasp and we all turned to where her voice was coming from.

Mai was seated inside the Battle Box with a shadowed man. She seemed awfully spooked, her eyes wild with…. Fear? The shadowed man stood from his seat and the light reflected from the moon revealed his features. A shiver ran down my spine much to my dismay.

"Ho ho…" The man chuckled. "This one should be easy! I have orders from Mr. Pegasus to beat this brat at all costs!"

The man went to climb out of the battle box and Mai called to us again.

"Be careful, Yugi!" She cried. "This guy's a player killer from the island staff that goes around and steals star chips from Duelists!"

Oh! I remember this! It was the guy who used the darkness as his advantage to intimidate other Duelists. At least this wasn't the situation where he used the flame spouts, I probably would faint it that were the case. The player killer finally stopped a few steps away from us, holding the double tiered duel glove out toward us.

"Yugi!" The man called down to him. "I'll eliminate you just like I did this woman! Let's duel!"

Eliminate…? We all glanced to Mai and she nodded dismally.

"This is as far as I go…" She told us sadly. "I can't make that dream of mine to fight you real…"

No… I shook my head, as if that would make this whole thing go away. We weren't even allowed to grieve for a moment when the player killer shouted unnecessarily.

"C'mon!" He shouted. "Get in the Battle Box!"

Yugi's fist clenched and a more comfortable shiver ran down my spine. I glanced over, seeing Yami glare at the player killer. Mai seemed to notice that something about Yugi changed, as her eyes widened, but said nothing.

"Don't worry, Mai." Yami said to Mai, though he didn't look at her. "I'll beat his fat ass and get back the star chips he stole from you!"

Can you? This guy seemed really creepy and something just was not right. I didn't say anything against it because, despite my fear, I knew he could do it.

 **This was just a bit of character interaction before more duels and more insanity. With writing, I'm all the way up to Jounouchi's duel with Bandit Keith! I'm almost done with season 1, holy cow! Never thought I'd get this far!**

 **Now, with saying that, I would like to tell you all that I'm messing a wee bit with the cannon of this story. I love things that the anime does and things that the manga does so I'm gonna flip flop on some of the things. Hopefully you all don't mind my doing that.**

 **Hope you all had a good Christmas and New Years and see you all in the next update!**

 **RobynHood3**


	10. The Castle in the Dark

**Hey guys! Sorry about the little wait, the spring semester has started and insanity for me has begun! Hooray... NOT! One cool thing is that I'm taking a East Asian history class that will go over the history of the Koreas, China and Japan so I'm looking forward to that!**

 **Another update on my sanity: I saw the new Yu-Gi-Oh! movie today and my childhood is over! :'(. Takahashi sure knows how to make a fangirl cry! But I definitely recommend that people go see it! Only thing I'm going to say about it is that Kaiba needs to calm down about Atem. Chill, Rich boy, chill!**

 ***I don't own anything about Yu-Gi-Oh! I only own my OC, Christine.***

Even though Yami was here now, I was still pretty spooked by this 'player-killer'. Hopefully Yami wouldn't do anything too crazy…. Crap, he's walking toward me. That can't be good. The spirit did stop next to me and whispered something in my ear.

"I have to break my promise for this to work." He whispered. "I'm just apologizing now."

I sighed softly. I hated it when Yami bet his and Yugi's life in duels but right now…. I saw no other way.

"Ok." I whispered back. "But promise? No more after this?"

Yami nodded. He finally stepped away from me and followed the player-killer into the Battle Box. Mai walked out of the box and she and Anzu walked over to me. I noticed a bruise on Mai's neck as soon as the two stopped. It wrapped around the back of her neck. It wasn't a deep purple but it still looked painful. "My god, Mai." I immediately went to try to place a cold hand on the bruise but she slapped my hand away.

"I'm fine, Christine." She snapped. "Don't worry about me."

I didn't back down. I pushed her hand away and settled my hand along the bruise. Mai flinched but I didn't stop. I kept it there for a few moments until I was satisfied it would be ok for the moment. It looked like Mai was going to say something but I held up my hand to stop her and I turned back to the Battle Box. Since I was so focused on Mai's neck, I hadn't noticed that the conversation that Yami and the player-killer were having.

"Just so you know…" The man was saying. "after I beat you, the plan is for us to crush every last gamer and win this tournament! Industrial Illusions will brook no competition! No other masters like you will arise!"

I simply crossed my arms in annoyance. Pegasus was even more cowardly than I thought. Having the men he hires break the dreams of all the people that play his game. It was horrible. Yami thankfully was thinking the same thing I was but he chuckled.

"You're dreaming if you think you can beat me." Yami smirked, his own arms crossed. "Sorry to burst your bubble but, I won't lose!"

That didn't seem to faze the player killer and the man only laughed.

"Night falls quickly over this island quickly, doesn't it?" The man asked. "But there's no sleep for Duelists. While they lie in their beds, with their guards down, my darkness creeps in and destroys them."

The man then gestured over to us, looking directly at Mai. "Like that girl!" I clenched my fists together but said nothing. If I did, I would lose my temper and that has already happened too much today.

"Don't worry, Mai." Yami consoled. "I'll get your star chips back from him."

Mai seemed confused that we would do this for her but she said nothing aloud. "Listen up, blockhead!" I nearly giggled there and Anzu raised an eyebrow at me. It was funny! "Attacking under cover of night is the act of coward! You're no Duelist as far as I'm concerned! You're nothing more than a thief… I'll teach you that a thief can't take the life of a real Duelist!"

"You tell him, Yugi!" I muttered, not using the spirit's name to not arouse suspicion from Mai.

"Why you little…." The player killer growled.

"For this duel, I'll bet all six of my star chips!" Yami ignored the growl of anger and kept talking anyway. "You bet the eight chips you took from Mai! To make up the difference, I bet my life!"

I didn't look but I knew Anzu leaned over to look at me. I eventually glanced over and saw that her eyes were wide.

"What?" I asked impassively.

"Why aren't you panicking?!" She hissed out.

I sighed. Anzu jumped around Mai so that secrecy wasn't an issue. "Christine?"

"He told me he had to break our promise." I finally said. "It was the only way to get him to play."

Anzu didn't reply, probably from shock, and the both of us turned back to the duel.

"Hmmm…" The player-killer hummed. "That sounds good, but excuse me if I don't believe you… Talk is cheap. So in lieu of a guarantee… I'll do this!"

The man held up his ginormous duel glove and a wire noose appeared and flew toward Yami. I held back the scream that threatened to come out of my throat with my hand when it wrapped around his neck. No! Not this! Anything but this! Anzu held me gently and I could see Mai had glanced over, confusion in her eyes. She also played with the bruise on her neck with a free hand "Some Duelists flee from us out of fear. We use this wire so they don't get away! That silly little girl attempted to get away so I had to use it on her too. You guys are just prey let loose on the island for us to hunt! If I win, I'll choke you to death… maybe twice, to get my star chips worth!"

"No! Yugi!" Anzu shrieked into the Battle Box.

"Fine." Yami huffed, pulling at the wire to keep it away from his neck. "If I lose, you can have my head!" Yami then smirked and I knew it well. "But if you lose… You have to play a Penalty Game!"

The player-killer had no objections so they started the duel. I tried not to stare at the wire that wrapped around Yami's neck. If I dwelled on it, I might panic. The first card was one that I did not like. Castle of Dark Illusions had a high defense and with Pegasus' rules, it covered the field in a murky film of shadows.

"Watch out, Yugi!" Mai cried out. "The darkness defeated my harpies!"

"Too bad, Yugi." The player killer sneered from behind his cowardly veil of shadows. "Your monsters don't get their field power bonus at night! But my Dark Cards get infinite strength! Now play a card! Any card!"

Yami played his Celtic Guardian in Defense mode and I agreed that it was a good move. Since nobody but Mai and Anzu really knew what this guy was capable of, it was best to protect life points. The player-killer also played a card and then attacked with it. What was going on? The shadows suddenly burst forth and Celtic Guardian exploded into tiny pieces, nobody saw the monster that attacked. "Now do you see? There's nothing you can do!"

Yami played another card, Winged Guardian of the Fortress, in defense mode and the player-killer played another card but didn't attack. It seemed like Yami was in deep thought about something and I figured I knew about what. He had to find a way to get rid of the darkness but with a defense power of 2500, it was indestructible to near entirety of his deck. I had faith though.

I jumped when Yami suddenly switched his dragon into attack mode and sent a barrage of fireballs at the darkness. It was faint but there was a flash of the opposing monsters. But as soon as the attack faded, the monsters faded as well. "Too bad! You can light up the darkness for an instant but you can't fight my monsters at the same time!"

"Shut up…" I muttered from behind my hand. "I'm pretty sure he already knows that."

Yami's dragon was obliterated in the same way his elven knight was and apparently the player-killer got a kick out of it.

"You're as good as dead, Yugi!" He seemed cheer. "The dark is my home! As long as it's dark, I'm invincible!"

"Heh heh…" Yami chuckled and there was a growl of confusion from in the darkness. "You may be happy now, but I don't think you'd like being in the darkness forever. Even though it covers your evil face, I'll have to see it again when I shut down your little game! I found a way to beat your darkness!"

Yami held up a single card. "This card is the key! Your life ends in five turns! Get ready! I'll show you the true darkness you'll wish you never knew!"

At first, the reaction was fear and surprise, but soon it became scoffing.

"Don't make me laugh!" The man barked with laughter. "Consider your situation before you open your big mouth! As long as the Castle of Dark Illusions hangs over the board, my monsters can hide in the dark! You can't attack them! As long as it's dark, I can't lose!"

Yami only continued to smirk.

"No true Duelist gives up a fight when someone else tells them they'll lose. You have a least a shred of pride, I'll grant you that much! Then how about this!" Yami held up the single card again. "I'll show you the card that I'm going to beat you with!"

"What are you doing?" I said finally pulling my hand away from my mouth.

Yami was losing it… He was cracking….. Wait… I shook my head, removing the thoughts from my mind. Yami didn't panic, well he did, but not in a situation like this. He had something in mind that I had unfortunately forgotten.

"Behold!" Yami flipped the card he was holding to reveal a magic card. "The Swords of Revealing Light! These swords have the power to block the enemy's attacks for three turns! Even if they try to hide in the darkness, the light of the swords will find them! Trapped in the light, unable to attack, your monsters will be destroyed by this card!"

The player killer, from what I could see in the dark, wasn't pleased by the words. He probably didn't believe that Yami's magic card could stop his 'unstoppable' monsters. "You'll see what I mean in five turns!"

It was then Yami's turn and he played Curse of Dragon, the legit MVP of almost the entire tournament right now, and a card face down. "I'm done now. Four turns until you die!"

Why are you doing this, Yami? I thought as I finally let myself relax after my near panic attack. Riling him up is not….. Wait a minute. Yes, it was. It was exactly what he wanted!

"Excuse me, Mai." Anzu began to ask the blonde woman next to her. "Is it all right for Yugi to show his cards like that?"

Mai thought about it for a second before an amazed expression passed through. She thought the same thing I had.

"It's not against the rules." Mai explained. "Maybe Yugi plans to use another weapon against the darkness. Something other than a card."

"Other than a card?" Anzu mimicked.

"As long as he hides in the dark, Yugi can't see or attack his cards! But there's one thing that can get through the darkness. You know what that is, don't you?"

"His words." I replied softly and Anzu turned to look at me. "He's going to make the person who enjoys to watch people panic, panic."

Anzu nodded like she understood but she didn't need to, I'm pretty sure she understood anyway.

It was soon the player killer's turn and I could hear the snigger that he let loose. Oh, boy.

"You idiot! I've never seen a Duelist dumb enough to tell me his strategy and show me his cards! I'll make you regret it now!"

Yami's face I'm sure was the exact same as mine. The visual representation of 'What?' The player killer slapped a card onto the table. "Your so called 'Key to Victory' is going to the grave with this card! Reaper of the Cards!" No! Not that! "I'm going to take your magic card and destroy it!"

Despite the darkness, the light of the summoned Reaper shone for a moment then it came out of the darkness. It was the exact same as the image on the card that Grandpa had in the show. It creeped me out, the swirling robes and the 'Psycho' like face appearing out of them. "Go, Reaper! Destroy the Swords of Revealing Light! Card Eraser!"

"Oh no!" Anzu cried out.

"That was the only way he was going to win!" Mai practically moaned.

"Don't be so quick to assume something." I said to them and they both turned to me with wide eyes before I smirked when Yami began to chuckle.

"What?"

"I said the swords were my key to winning." Yami smirked again. "But I never said I played it on the board!"

"Aw shnap!" I muttered with my own snigger.

"What?!" The player killer nearly shrieked. "Why isn't my reaper doing anything?!"

"Because the card I played facedown was…"

Yami flipped his card over and showed it to his opponent. "Spellbinding Circle! A trap card."

"A trap…." The soft growl came from the darkness.

"By attacking the card, the Reaper is caught in the Hexagram!"

As Yami spoke, the purple seal appeared and wrapped around the Reaper. "When you play a spell card or a trap card, the Reaper of the Cards is the most important thing to watch out for. And lo and behold, you had it! But I've sealed it into the pentagram, now I can play all the magic cards I want!"

"Y-you!" The player killer spat out. "You tricked me!"

"Heh hehe…" Yami chuckled. "I'm sorry. Your turn ended up being a waste! Now it's my turn!"

'You are so not sorry.' I thought in my head. Yami seemed to catch my thought and gave a quick glance with a smirk. I gave a winning smile and Yami smiled before turning back to the duel, pulling a card from his hand. "I'll play this one the board, for real this time! And before I'm done, I'll play another magic card face down! Can you see it, Player killer?" Yami's face became creepy then. His smirk almost like the one he wore when he played Shadow Games.

"See what?!" The player killer snapped.

"The rope around your neck."

"You fool! It's you about to be hanged! There's no rope around my neck! That's you!"

Yami chuckled again. "Don't you realize? You're climbing the steps to the gallows! One step at a time… in the darkness. One step for each turn… Three turns left!"

A shiver ran down my back with that. He practically was creating a shadow game out of the darkness that the player killer had created on the field. I was half tempted to try and tell him to stop but I didn't. Yami knew what he was doing. "Darkness is a mirror that throws you own fears back at you. Fear that swallows those with weak hearts… like you."

"Listen kid!" The player killer shouted as he pulled the wire around Yami's neck toward him, making me squeak in freight. "The next time you open your mouth, I'm gonna twist your head off!"

Yami didn't seem to care. He smirked and winked.

"It's your turn."

I held my hands tightly at my waist to stop myself from trying to bite my nails. This was not good for my blood pressure. The player killer eventually played a card and definitely fit with his theme. The King of Yamimakai. Apparently it was going to be Yami's demise but when he eventually attacked, Yami's smirk and chuckle were much louder than the other man's laughter. "It's fine to attack, but you should have paid more attention to the position of the monsters on the board!"

"What?!"

The attack veered away from Yami's dragon and into the player killer's own Reaper of the Cards. It was brilliant. Using the Spellbinding circle to protect his monsters and his life points. Yami took the wasted turn to play his magic card and the entire field became filled with glowing swords and illuminated the field. The player killer's monsters were now revealed and boy were they creepy!

"Now that the lights are on, I can see your monsters ugly forms! You have no place to hide! Are you ready? Your life ends in two more turns! What are you going to do for the three turns that the swords are on the field?"

Now that the player killer's face was revealed again, I could see the annoyance and slight trace of fear on his face. Eventually, a smirk lit up his face again. "It's your turn. Hurry up and draw a card!" The smirk became more prevalent then.

"Nee hee hee!" The player killer laughed. "The cards smile on me today! You won't be able to touch me for two turns!"

He slapped his card down and something new appeared on the field, circling around the Castle of Dark Illusions. "Yellow Luster Shield! I play it on the Castle of Dark Illusions and everything beneath it!" The shield finished settling itself and I couldn't help but notice that the monsters got slightly uncomfortable underneath the shield. "There! The shield of chaos falls from the floating fortress to the ground and boost the defense of all my cards! As long as the shield is turned on, your monster can't so much as scratch me! Do you still believe you'll beat me in two turns?"

He so can. I growled in my mind. I crossed my arms angrily and glared into the battle box. Mai continued to not reply to Anzu's questions about whether or not he could win but I figured she was thinking around the same parameters. I uncrossed my arms and settled one around my friend, trying to comfort her. "Nee Hee Hee! It's your move!" Yami made me smile when he chuckled yet again.

"Don't you realize that you've exposed your own weakness?" Yami asked in his normal confident voice.

The player killer raised an eyebrow, his confusion prevalent on his face. "I've been analyzing your strategy since this duel started! You're a coward who can't do anything without making sure you're safe first!"

"Y-You…." The player killer ground out. "say that again! Did you call me a coward?!"

"Yes!" Yami quickly replied with a smile. "You cower in the dark and when that doesn't work, you use a shield. You may be big, but you don't have any balls! I'm surprised you beat all those Duelists whom you ambushed in their beds and forced into battle!"

"Why you…" He ground out again. "I'm going to kill you…"

"Then let me tell you this! I calculated that you'd use a shield."

The player killer's eyes widened. "You die in two turns! You can't escape that fate!"

Yami pulled a card then pulled another one from his hand, playing it on the field. It was Gaia the Fierce Knight; and when he is played a polymerization isn't all that far behind. Gaia was fused with Curse of Dragon to create the other MVP of today, Gaia the Dragon Champion. "My turn is over. On my text turn, Gaia will defeat you!"

I loved the way the player killer's eyes seemed to grow more panicked as time went on. He glared at Yami from his spot but Yami kept up his confident grin. The player killer pulled another card with a glare on his face then slapped it down. It was a Metal Guardian that was positioned outside the shield. His monsters were protected from any attack that Yami could through at them. Yami didn't think that was a problem apparently since he, of course riled his opponent up some more, then pulled a card from his deck then slapped down another. "Catapult Turtle!"

I couldn't help but giggle. Even though Summoned Skull was my favorite monster, Catapult Turtle was also high on the list.

"What's so funny?" Anzu asked.

"Nothing, nothing!" I managed. "I love this card!"

Anzu raised an eyebrow at me. "Oh, come on! Who cannot love a turtle that can hurl your monsters at your enemy?"

"And that is pretty much what I am doing with him." Yami commented to us with a glance.

Gaia that Dragon Champion was settled on top of Catapult Turtle and as it began to aim, the player killer snapped with another cackle.

"It's no use! My monsters are protected by the Yellow Luster Shield and Metal Guardian!" The man laughed. "Metal Guardian in defense mode is enough to stop the catapult by itself!"

"Right." Yami nodded his head. "But… I never said I was firing at your monsters. My target is the castle!"

Catapult Turtle finished aiming and Gaia was launched toward the castle, the force increasing his attack points to 3100, the same as the castle's defense. Unfortunately, Yami also lost some life-points, half of Gaia's attack points. Though, it was comparable to none when it came to the damage that was about to occur.

We all watched the castle in stunned silence, waiting for something to happen, until the first crack echoed in the air. The ring outside the castle cracked and fell down to mingle amongst the monsters until they vanished. The player killer laughed.

"The exterior 'Floatation Ring' was destroyed but the castle itself is unharmed! You couldn't do it after all! You couldn't beat me on this turn! My turn! And I attack… Because at this moment the Swords of Revealing Light disappear!"

I laughed out loud for a moment and revealed in everyone except Yami turn to look at me. "What's so funny, girl?"

"Oh, nothing." I replied. "I just have a question for Yugi."

I turned to Yami. "How is a floating castle still floating without its flotation ring, Professor Yugi?" Yami chuckled lightly.

"I have a faint idea about why that happened." Yami replied. "There is a reason I played the swords of light. And it wasn't to see his ugly cards."

The player killer began to panic for real now as the swords began to fade and the castle began to tumble down. He called for his monsters to run but they had nowhere to run, they were trapped inside the shield that he used to protect them. The castle came down with a loud crash making Anzu and I visibly jump. I felt the shiver of the magic of the Millennium Puzzle again but said nothing about it. "They said pride goes before the fall. Now fall into the true darkness." Without turning back again, Yami walked out of the Battle Box and Anzu, Mai and I all ran over to him.

"Yugi!" Anzu cheered.

"I know I pull some creepy shit but that was seriously creepy, dude." I laughed with Anzu soon joining me.

"That was excellent, Yugi!" Mai complimented.

Yami held out his hand that held the eight glittering star chips.

"Mai, these star chips are yours!" Yami said with a smile.

Mai's smile dropped then. She didn't do anything to take the small stars from Yami. "What… take them!"

"He won them for you!" Anzu told her. "He nearly gave Christine a heart attack in the process!"

I elbowed her in the ribs, making her wince, but said nothing. Mai shook her head.

"I can't take those star chips..." She said. "Those belong to you, Yugi. I lost a battle as a Duelist. I'm going to leave the island now because I lost all my star chips."

"But…!" I quickly tried to argue but Mai turned her back on us.

"It was nice meeting you guys."

She went to walk away with a quiet 'bye' when suddenly….

"Wait a minute!" A voice called out. "Mai Valentine!"

We all turned around to see Jounouchi, Honda and Bakura all walk out of the shadows. Each of them had a different stage of tiredness on their face.

"Everyone!" Anzu smiled.

"Good morning." I said teasingly.

Honda yawned loudly and I giggled at the face he gave me.

"I woke up after hearing your loud talking…" Jounouchi told Mai.

Mai stared at us for a moment before she smiled.

"Wonder why you guys always have to gather up…" She mused. "Just like that…"

Honda turned to Bakura.

"Bakura, what time is it?" Honda asked.

"A little before 11 p.m." Bakura replied after checking his watch.

"Then for one more hour, you're our friend, Mai!" Honda smiled. "While we were eating, you said 'We are enemies tomorrow!' But it's not tomorrow. That means we are friends now!"

"Mai." Yami picked up where Honda left off. "We, Duelists, are here on this island to fight fair and square. But there are guys who are preventing us from doing that. Pegasus' servant, Player Killer. I don't recognize them as Duelists; I don't want them to ruin our battle!"

Yami held out the hand holding the star chips again. "Take these star chips, Mai. And let's choose who's the strongest as a true Duelist!" Mai remained silent again, simply staring at us.

"Mai…" Anzu said softly. "Didn't you say that your dream was to fight Yugi…?"

"I was looking forward to that." I added on.

"That is…." Mai whispered.

I watched on sadly. I didn't know what I could do to try and help but it was taken out of my hands when Jounouchi jumped into the conversation again.

"Geeze…" He groaned. "We aren't getting anywhere! So – I have the solution!"

"You?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm now worried."

"What exactly is your solution?" Anzu asked.

"That is….!"

Jounouchi jumped over to Yami with a crazed expression and the look of confusion on Yami's face was very enjoyable. "I'll take these star chips! That is the solution!" The blond jumped up in down in happiness. "Yes! Now I have 10 star chips! I'll be the first to get to Pegasus' castle!" Jounouchi continued to laugh and from the corner of my eye, I saw flames of anger appear around Mai. Soon enough, she erupted.

"Wait a minute!" She shrieked at Jounouchi. "I'm not letting you do that, Jounouchi! Why the hell are you taking them! Give them back, you!"

I was surprised when he gave them back so quickly. Mai stared at the little golden stars before looking back up to Jounouchi.

"If your pride won't forgive you for playing with those star chips then throw them into the sea!" Jounouchi told her. "That's your choice! But I won't throw them away! The stars nor my dream!"

Mai stared at him again but Jounouchi didn't loiter long. "So long! I'm going to sleep!"

"Night!" I called to him and he waved back at me.

"Yugi…" Mai's voice made me turn back to the conversation. "I'll borrow these star chips… I have no right to battle you while I have these. But… I'll get the right to… I'm going to battle you, fair and square!"

Yami smiled to our 'friend'.

"Yeah." He nodded his head. "I'll be waiting."

It was a good moment, not something I wanted to mess with. Suddenly, something came to mind when I saw Mai's bruises again. Yami would have some too…..

"Don't wander off, you two." I suddenly said as we were about to walk back to camp. "I still want to look at those bruises."

"Christine." Yami practically moaned. "We're fine!"

I crossed my arms and allowed my eyes to narrow. Anzu stood for a moment then quickly excused herself, probably since she knew about Yami and I. Mai blinked silently; she was surprised that I wasn't being a near house wife like I had been earlier.

"Just sit by that campfire." I huffed. "I'll be there in a minute."

I turned on my heel and headed back to the tent. I grabbed my vial of elixir, a few tissues then walked back out of the tent. Thankfully, Yami and Mai were both sitting on the logs by the fire pit like I had asked. Jounouchi, Honda and Bakura were a good distance away and probably wouldn't hear anything and the dark would block any visuals of us. "Thank you. Mai, I'll handle you first so you can get to sleep."

"What…?" Yami went to splutter but I gave him a look which made him huff.

"I'll get to you in due time, be patient."

Mai snickered at the face Yami pulled at my words and I wiped the tissue with my elixir on it across the bruises. They would heal a little faster now but you couldn't tell till tomorrow morning. I did this a couple of times before I finally pulled the tissue away. "That should do it. It should feel a lot better in the morning." It took a few seconds but Mai actually smiled at me. I smiled back then turned to Yami. "Now I can move to you, Mister." I told Yami and he rolled his eyes.

Mai walked back to the tent as I pulled one of my other tissues and settled the elixir on it. "Buckle?" Yami sighed and pulled off the buckle that was around his neck. Sure enough, there was a light line where the wire noose had dug into his skin. The buckle had actually protected him to a degree from any real damage.

I slid my tissue along his neck and after a minute or so, I pulled away. "Ok. Good enough. How do you feel?" Yami stretched his shoulders.

"Tired." He admitted.

"I'm not surprised." I chuckled. "You had a long day."

I stood up, closed my elixir bottle and stretched myself. "I'm gonna head to sleep. Night...!" The ending of my statement was cut short when Yami tugged on my hand suddenly and I fell back to the ground. "What?!"

"Nothing." Yami replied with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Dude…" I groaned. "Yugi needs to sleep. Go to bed!"

"He is asleep at the moment but I won't until you pay the price."

I raised an eyebrow. Yami only continued to smile. What price? I thought back to the previous week and sighed. Great.

"Fine." I sighed again.

I gave him a tight hug, being careful of the bruises along his neck then kissed him. It was only a second before I pulled away. "Better now?"

"Yep!" Yami replied.

I rolled my eyes then went back to the tent. I was almost there when I heard Yami speak again. "Good night, Christine." I turned back and he was wearing a sweet smile. My heart nearly melted at the sight of it.

"Good night, Yami." I said back and the smile on his face became a little wider.

I turned back once again and entered the tent. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

 **Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter!**

 **I have planned out in my head all of Christine's favorite monsters and I laugh at how they all just came to me randomly and I love it! We have Summoned Skull, who I don't even know where that came from, Catapult Turtle, where I have joke planned for later for him, and finally, Marshmallon, who is a lot like Christine in the way where she can look cute but attack her and you don't come out unscathed.**

 **For those waiting for The Mountain, I'm really sorry. I've gotten myself stuck in a deeper rut than I've thought. I'm trying to get out and will definitely do my best to get something out for you all to read.**

 **Yami Bakura: If she can survive semester hell...**

 **RobynHood3: *glares* Just because I saw you today doesn't mean you get to show up and pester me now! GET OUT!**

 **Yami Bakura: *Smiles and skips out of the room***

 ***Huffs* Anyway! See ya next time!**

 **RobynHood3**


	11. Caves and Cannibals

**Hey guys! I meant to post this on my birthday, the 10th, but I was distracted by watching Goblin, the K-drama, with my mental twin and going through different stuff for work. This chapter doesn't have much dueling, it is pretty much just a bridge into the next phase of the arc.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the other things I mention in this chapter, specifically Frozen and Hannibal. I only own Christine, my OC.**

I was so deeply asleep that I barely heard anything outside of my dreams. Those dreams though, I can't describe them. I couldn't see a thing it was so black and my ears were filled with the simple sounds of walking, like someone walking through a quiet marble hall. What is going on?

I walked through the darkness for what seemed like forever until I found a bright blue door. It seemed familiar to me. I tilted in confusion until familiar stomps came toward me. I turned around and smiled when the large snow monster I fondly called Marshmallow walked out of the shadows.

"Marshmallow!" I cried and ran over to him. "It's been ages!"

Marshmallow was careful with his claws as he patted me on the head.

"It has been a long time since you have come here." The gravelly voice said. "Why have you come back?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "I just fell asleep. It was probably an accident."

Marshmallow nodded his large head.

"Though it is good that you are here."

"Why?"

Marshmallow lowered his head, as if in shame. "Marshmallow?"

"I need to apologize for my abysmal failure a year ago."

"Failure…? Oh…"

The incident with Shadi. The day where I called and called for help in trying to push the Egyptian out of my mind and nothing seemed to work. I remembered thinking that Marshmallow had abandoned me but it hurt me thinking like that.

"I should have fought more in protecting your mind. But in the end…."

"It is not your fault, Marshmallow." I interrupted the snow monster and tried to wrap my arms around him. "Though what exactly happened that day?"

Marshmallow raised his head again when I pulled away.

"I interceded the intruder as I always have, prepared to push him out of your mind." Marshmallow began to explain. "But this time I was interrupted by the woman."

"Woman?" I asked. "Who is she?"

"She never truly says who she is. She comes and goes often. The only thing she really says is that she is looking out for your best interests."

I thought about it for a moment then allowed Marshmallow to continue. "She told me that the man was a friend and that I should go. I did so but I was never far away." Marshmallow then growled. "She allowed him the use of your body for his foolish plan against your friends and I couldn't sit back and do nothing."

So he was the reason why I was able to fight back against Shadi's control! Marshmallow must have found a way around the Millennium Key's power and kept me awake!

"And you didn't!" I smiled up at the snow monster. "You kept me awake! Helped me fight back!"

"Though it was the only thing I could do." Marshmallow said with a small groan of shame. "It pained me to hear your cries for help and I couldn't do anything."

I wrapped my arms around the snow monster again. I kept my grip for at least a minute before I said anything.

"I forgive you, Marshmallow. You did what you could and for that I am grateful."

Marshmallow said nothing but I could tell he was in a better mood now. I was glad that the question of how Shadi got into my mind was finally answered but now a new question appeared. Who was this woman who allowed him in? Why did she, if she was looking out for my best interests, allow this crazy Egyptian near control of my body? I wish I knew.

Sounds soon began to echo through my mind and I recognized a roar that silenced them all. Blue Eyes… Kaiba was here… "I should go. My friends need me." Marshmallow nodded his enormous head and the dream faded.

I woke up in the tent to hear voices outside. I pulled on my jacket and walked out of the tent. It was only a few yards away but I could see the gang and Mai all gathered, some crouching on the ground next to a crumpled Jounouchi.

"To this day, your stupid friendship disgusts me!" Kaiba's voice echoed around the trees and my temper at him.

Despite everything, he was still a grouchy ass. I walked over to the gang and when I finally could see Kaiba about to walk away, I let my temper go.

"You didn't need to say that!" I shouted as I walked out of the trees and the CEO turned around. "If you had a friendship like this, would you still call it stupid?"

Kaiba stared at me for a moment before he turned away again. Jerk.

"Christine." Anzu finally said.

I turned to them and saw the damage that Kaiba had done to Jounouchi. "You took your time in waking up." I smiled.

"Sorry, crazy dream." I walked over and settled a cold hand on Jounouchi's forehead, which was red with anger.

As I worked with trying to calm down Jounouchi, I listened to Kaiba tell Yugi about the one time he saw Pegasus duel Bandit Keith. Pegasus read his mind then called a legit newbie and gave him instructions on how to beat him.

"I don't know what kind of trick he used across the table but…" Kaiba said. "There's a possibility to win if I challenge him with this Duel Disk. I'm going to Pegasus' castle to take back what I almost lost!"

A shiver ran down my spine as Yugi straightened. I helped Jounouchi off the ground at that moment too and we both turned to face Kaiba.

"Kaiba!" Yami called and the CEO turned around with surprise on his face. "Just like you, we too have lost precious things we can't lose! And we will protect them! I'm going to beat Pegasus!"

Kaiba's surprise faded. He turned around a fraction but his eyes were still on Yami.

"Then let me put it another way…" Kaiba began. "I'm going to Pegasus' castle before you!"

Kaiba then strutted away as we all stood there watching. When he was out of sight, Yami slid back into the puzzle and Yugi was back.

"We all should get to sleep." He said to us but there was no smile on his face.

Everyone nodded and went their separate ways, the boys to their spot under the trees and the girls and I back to the tent. Nobody woke Anzu nor me until we heard Jounouchi call for everyone to wake up. We both looked to each other, sleep still trying to catch us again but we fought it off as we packed up. Mai was gone but she left us a note that said we could have the tent and the rest of the food, including a note for Yugi. It was super nice of her but it was strange. Before we walked out of the tent, I pulled my hair out of Mai's braid and Anzu pointed out that there were small curls adorning my hair now. I checked my reflection and sure enough, there were. They were pretty but I didn't dwell on them long. The both of us packed everything up then walked over to the boys.

"You guys are up!" Anzu smiled as we got close.

"Oh, hey Anzu, Christine!" Yugi smiled back. "Morning!"

"Morning." I replied with my own smile.

Yugi's smile vanished as he looked around the both of us.

"Hey, where's Mai?" Yugi asked.

"She was gone when we woke up." Anzu replied. "She left the tent and enough food for all of us."

"And she left this note for you, Yugi." I handed the slip to him. "It's an I.O.U."

Yugi took the note from me and read it silently. It was going to be nice seeing Mai soon, which I thought was strange after all my emotions about her yesterday. Mai had actually become a sort of friend to us now. We finished packing and set off down the path that we were following before the sun set yesterday.

"I wonder how many Duelists are left on the island." Bakura wondered aloud.

"Well, 12 were kicked off the first day…" Jounouchi mused in reply. "And there must be a bunch who got beaten by Player Killers in the night. I bet half of the 40 participants were disqualified!"

"Well, we still have a whole day left." Honda encouraged the group. "The important thing is for you to be careful who you fight and get six more chips without getting taken out!"

"But we can't take too long!" Yugi reminded us. "It's all over when enough Duelists collect 10 star chips before we do. I heard only four people can reach the castle, and the remaining Duelists are people who made it through the first day. They have to be even stronger than yesterday!"

"Even stronger…" Jounouchi practically moaned.

"Hey, Yugi!" Honda began to tease his friend. "Stop scaring this guy!"

Jounouchi didn't seem to take that well. He shouted at his friend and pulled at Honda's face. Anzu and I had to force the two apart so that we could keep moving.

"No matter who stands in my way… No matter what enemy… I'll take them down!" Jounouchi announced and I smiled at the blond.

"That's the spirit!" Yugi smiled as well. "Don't worry, Jounouchi!"

"Just don't let them scare you too much." I told him. "If you keep a level head, everything will be fine."

Jounouchi nodded at me, his signature smile still in place. We kept walking a ways before I noticed that we hadn't walked into any Duelists for a while. "Awfully quiet, huh?"

"Yeah, where are the other Duelists?" Bakura agreed with me.

"We haven't seen any for a while." Anzu added on.

We walked a few more steps before Jounouchi suddenly announced something.

"I gotta go take a leak!" He smiled before he began to walk off.

"Thanks for the information, Jounouchi." I deadpanned. "Like we needed it."

Anzu nodded her head in agreement and we all settled to wait the few minutes before Jounouchi came back. I kept peeking over at Bakura's watch and saw that it soon became a little late, far too long for Jounouchi.

"What's taking Jounouchi, so long?" Yugi asked.

"Probably 'number two'." Honda replied cryptically.

"Don't be gross!" Anzu snapped at him.

"TMI!" I growled out.

We waited a little while longer before we all began to get impatient. I began to pace along the sides of the path and I could tell that everyone else was understanding about why I did this.

"Jounouchi's sure taking a long time…" Yugi mused.

"Yeah, you said it." Honda agreed.

"He's been gone so long, Christine has nearly created a ditch from her pacing." Yugi pointed over to me.

"Ha Ha…" I replied sarcastically.

"It's been at least 20 minutes!" Bakura told us as he looked at his watch again.

"Maybe he got lost?" Anzu supplied.

"Nah, that can't be!" Honda shot down the thought. "He's the kind of guy who can tell which street he's on with his nose…"

"Are you saying he's a dog?" I asked as I stopped pacing and raised an eyebrow to my friend.

Honda didn't reply but I figured I knew what was going on in his head.

"I hope he didn't accept a challenge to duel somebody without telling us." Yugi mused again.

I pulled my gaze away from Honda then. Yugi seemed so nervous about the blond, his whole body seemed to ooze the feeling.

"Now that might be it!" Honda agreed. "He's been desperate to prove himself since he got here! And even more so since he fought Kaiba! I wouldn't put it past him to try and get more star chips to show us up!"

"Though, he would at least come over and let us know where he was headed." I interjected. "Jounouchi may be a bit impulsive but he is never forgetful when it comes to us."

Nobody argued. I played with my hands as everyone thought for a few moments. Yugi spoke up first.

"Let's split up and look for him!" He called out.

We all agreed.

"Bakura and I will go check the Duel Boxes!" Honda told us as he began to run down the path. "You, Christine and Anzu look in the forest!"

"Okay!"

Anzu and I both ran after Yugi into the forest and we continually called out his name. There was nothing. No sound of running, no talking, nothing. Jounouchi was nowhere to be found. Where could he have gone?

After at least a few more minutes of searching, we all gathered up again.

"No… He's not over here either." Honda growled out.

"Then we search somewhere else." Bakura replied.

"C'mon, Yugi." Anzu called over to the boy who was facing the other direction.

"Wait." I quickly said.

Bakura, Honda and Anzu all turned to me. The shiver ran down my back. I turned to 'Yugi'. "You know where he is now?" I asked. 'Yugi' turned back and I saw the crimson eyes that belonged to Yami. He quickly turned back around and ran off.

"This way!" He called out and after a moment's hesitation, we all followed behind him. Honda called up to Yami.

"Yugi… Do you know where Jounouchi is?"

"No, not exactly." Yami replied. "But a vision flashed in my mind… I saw Jounouchi underground!"

"Underground?"

We ran a few more yards before a cave appeared into view. "Look! You were right! There's a cave!"

We all ran inside the cave. It was creepy as heck! Skulls and bones littered the cave floor.

"All of them look real!" Anzu practically shrieked.

"There's no way Jounouchi's ok if he's dueling in a place like this!" Honda growled out. "He's probably fighting some cannibal caveman!"

"No cannibal." I interrupted. "The skulls are too neat, no chinks that would mean teeth marks. Unless he's run into Hannibal Lector, these skulls have probably been here for a few decades; the bugs got to them."

"How do you know that?" Bakura asked, his voice distorted in some kind of disgust.

"My mom and I watched lots of cop shows, especially one called Bones, and my friend made me watch a show about a Cannibal." I shrugged. "And I'm just a really big nerd when it comes to weird stuff."

"Ugh!" Anzu shivered.

We didn't stay long with the skulls and kept running. There were tons of dead ends but we eventually found a tunnel that led directly a Duel Box.

"There's a Duel Box over there!" Honda pointed.

"Jounouchi!" Anzu and I called out as we ran over.

Jounouchi's face became clearer as we came closer and he seemed…. Blank… What was going on?

"He looks high…" I deadpanned.

"More like spaced out…" Honda added. "Does that mean he lost?"

"Jounouchi!" Yami called as he leaned into the Duel Box. "What happened?"

Jounouchi finally looked to us and a smile was plastered onto his face.

"What the….?" He finally truly saw us. "It's you guys!"

Jounouchi's smile grew exponentially when he caught eyes with Yami. "Yugi… I… won… on my own! It was luck again but…"

"That doesn't matter!" Yami interrupted. "You did it!"

"Way to go, Jounouchi!" I cheered.

The blond's hand raised into a thumbs up. He jumped out of his chair after that and ran over to us.

"You guys should've seen it!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "My one-shot deadly combo!"

"It sounds like it went great!" Anzu complimented. "Even if it was mostly luck…"

"This streak of good luck is something to think about, man…" Honda began to say seriously. "Do you ever worry that, since you came to the island, you've used up your good luck for your whole life?"

"That is a funny thought!" I giggled out.

"What?" Jounouchi nearly shrieked. "That can't be!"

As Jounouchi and Honda argued, I glanced over to Yami, who wore a proud smile on his face. I had a suspicion that I knew what he was thinking. It wasn't pure luck that he won that duel, he actually used his head and his dueling instincts to pull through.

"Fuck." A man's voice cursed out. "Let's blow this taco stand…"

I turned toward the voice to see the owner of the voice. Tall, blond, a little too muscular with a biker vest on. Who was this guy again? Jounouchi seemed to know who he was and called out to him when he and the other three duelists tried to leave.

"Wait! Bandit Keith!"

Bandit Keith? The former American champ and prize hunter?

"Jounouchi…" Honda breathed out. "You got in a fight with these guys?"

"No..." Jounouchi replied very bluntly. "It wasn't like I accepted their challenge… They shanghaied me and dragged me down here! Like a pack of hyenas chasing their prey!"

Jounouchi clenched his fists. "Bandit Keith, if you call yourself a duelist, why don't you play fair next time?"

Bandit Keith turned around, his face contorted in rage.

"Don't tell me how to play, you kid!" He growled out.

He then grew a smirk on his face. "Did you say 'play fair'? Don't make me laugh! Card games are about outwitting your opponent! And that starts even before the game! So don't talk about shit you know nothing about!" Bandit Keith pointed straight at Jounouchi's face. "Tell me you're faking it, Jounouchi! Why don't you stop pretending to be a nice guy? Then the prizes and glory will come your way! Like this!"

Bandit Keith opened up his vest to reveal six or even more already built decks. My eyes widened at the sight. How on earth did he manage to bring all of those cards?!

"H-He's got a ton of cards under his jacket!" Jounouchi exclaimed.

"That's right!" Bandit Keith smiled brightly. "Dragon decks, Warrior decks, Machine decks… And they've all got dozens of rare cards. I've got a deck to beat any poor sucker who fights me!"

"Bandit Keith…." Yami drawled out. "Isn't there a rule that you can only bring forty cards to the island?"

"Yeah!" Anzu agreed. "You were allowed to trade cards on the boat but when we got to the island, they checked everyone's decks and confiscated any extra cards!"

"Let me break it to you—." Bandit Keith said bluntly. "I'm not officially in this tournament. And that means the rules don't apply to me! I only have one rule, I'll do whatever it takes to get to Pegasus' castle!"

Bandit Keith turned around and laughed as he began to walk away. The three duelists he was with raced to catch up to him. I glared at his back, this guy was such a jerk, no matter what you saw him in.

"Bandit Keith!" Yami called out and Bandit Keith stopped for a second. "The Duelists' pride is the rule on this island! Remember that…"

Bandit Keith only continued to laugh.

"Don't make me laugh, you baby Goth!"

Baby… Goth….? My eye twitched. At least he wears leather better than you do….

Bandit Keith was finally down the cavern and we were left alone again.

"Man… that creep!" Jounouchi growled out. "….. That's what I wanna say… but he's too strong…"

I looked over to Jounouchi and could see that his fists were clenched. I walked over to him and checked him over for any injuries. There was a slight bruise on his cheek, was he punched? I made my hand slightly cold and settled it along the bruise. Jounouchi flinched slightly and I made a face in reply.

"You can take it, Jounouchi." I huffed lightly. "I've given you worse before."

"True..." Jounouchi chuckled.

After a minute or so, I pulled my hand away and looked it over again.

"It looks a little better but just let me know if it hurts."

Jounouchi nodded and took a deep breath.

"C'mon…" He gave a shrug of his shoulders in the direction of the exit. "Let's get out of this cave, too!"

"Yeah…" Anzu agreed.

"I'm not the biggest fan of dark caves." I chuckled lightly as I clutched lightly at Yami's arm after popping over to him.

"But I thought you liked weird things?"

"Creepy, dark caves don't constitute as weird things." I quickly retorted to some snickering amongst my friends.

Yami didn't seem to mind my tight grip as we all walked down the path toward the entrance of the cave. Jounouchi ran up to the other side of Yami, the bright smile on his face again.

"Hey, Yugi!" He exclaimed. "You've got six chips and I've got eight! Maybe if we win our next duels, we'll both have ten!"

Yami nodded, a smile in place.

"Let's finish this with our next duels!" Yami agreed.

We walked through the caves for a little bit before even we began to get lost.

"I think the exit's this way." Bakura told us.

"I'm pretty sure it is that tunnel." Honda pointed to the one closest to us.

Sure enough, it was the tunnel and the sunlight began to reach us once more.

"There it is!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "That's the way out!"

The blond began to race toward the exit, the rest of us not far behind him, but a rumbling sound soon stopped him. What the… Oh no… A boulder began to block the sunlight! When it was nearly covered, the boulder stopped moving and Bandit Keith stuck his head into the cave.

"Yo, Losers!" He cheered.

"What the….?!" Jounouchi gasped out. "What are you doing?!"

"If the 'Law of the Island' is to win with duels, then MY law is to win like this! Now that I'm this close to getting to the castle, you guys are just in my way…. So you can stay here in this grave! Game Over! I'm sure somebody will find you find you eventually…. Of course it might take a few years!"

Suddenly, my free hand that wasn't holding onto Yami, was quickly grabbed and I was yanked to the front of the cave. "Though, I'd hate to let the goods go to waste."

"Hey!" I growled out. "Let me go! Yugi! Jounouchi!"

"Christine!" Yami called out as he reached for my hand.

"Let her go!" Jounouchi tried to pull me back but I was already pulled out of the cave.

I could hear the calls of my name as the boulder was slammed shut. I attempted to yank my hand out of Bandit Keith's grasp but his grip of too strong. Bandit Keith was laughing maniacally behind me at his 'victory' as I stared at the boulder that blocked me from my friends. I could hear them shouting my name through the boulder but I couldn't pull out of the tight grip on my wrist. As much as I wanted to freeze him and get away, I couldn't; even though Keith was a jerk, he was still mortal.

Keith eventually stopped laughing and gave a light sigh.

"Now, the next order of business…"

I turned just in time to see Keith kick the smallest of his lackeys, Bones. "Thanks for losing to that newbie!"

"B-but…" Bones fought to get a word in. "I just… played the cards how you told me…."

"They why'd you lose?! Moron!"

I fought to get my hand released again, but not to escape, but to stop this blatant torture. When Bones was groaning in pain, Keith finally stopped. "You lost your star chips… Now you aren't good for anything! Just die!"

Keith then began to extort the other two for their star chips and when they eventually did hand them over, Keith beat them up as well. The card hunter began to laugh again making me glare at him. "Ah, don't have that look, darlin'." Keith chuckled down at me. "I got you away from those losers, you should be thankful."

"Hardly." I huffed, pulling at my hand again. "Those 'losers' happen to be my best friends."

Keith laughed at my words.

"Those dweebs are your friends? You're too good for them. Just come along with Bandit Keith, he'll show you the meaning of a fun time."

With me pulling the entire time, still reluctantly refusing to use my powers on a mortal, Keith began to pull me toward the castle. With a backward glance to the cave, I let a tear course down my cheek.

Please be safe, you guys.

 **I was writing this and while I had one thing in mind for what I wanted to do... Then another thought popped up and it was too good to pass up. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm about a quarter through the Pegasus v. Yugi/Yami duel and hope to get that finished soon. I can't believe that this season is almost over! It's slightly terrifying!**

 **Well, Thanks for reading!**

 **RobynHood3**


	12. Entering the Castle

**Hi Hi! Sorry about the long wait, this semester is one of the hardest ones to date. I have a rough draft for a paper due Thursday and an exam the same day. Sigh... Global History of Christianity, why must you be so hard?!**

 **Oh well! Here is the next chapter for you guys! I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the things that you recognize in this chapter, specifically a Hobbit quote that I couldn't help but use! I only own Christine, my OC**

With me, reluctantly, behind him, Keith walked up the stairs to the castle.

"What the heck was the point of grabbing me, huh?" I asked, my voice harsh. "To just piss off my friends?"

Keith chuckled.

"Pretty much." Keith laughed. "The look on those boy's faces were priceless! You must be pretty special to them."

I made a light huff and didn't reply. "And besides, with you as a good shield, that blond, Jounouchi, will think twice before coming at me." My angry face dropped into a terrified one. Jounouchi wouldn't hit me, not even to get at Keith; it was pretty smart coming from this meathead.

When we reached the top of the steps, we were greeted by Kemo at the entrance of the castle. He seemed to recognize me, as he gave a huff at the apparent glare on my face, but said nothing to me.

"I have 10 star chips." Keith boasted, a bright smile on his face.

Kemo smiled to him then directed him to place his 10 star chips into the door mechanism and with a twist of the handle, the door to the castle opened. "Come along, darlin'." Keith cooed at me. I pulled even harder to get myself freed and stopped quickly. I heard more footsteps. Turning, I gave a bright smile. It was the gang! They had made it out of the cave! Keith noticed as well as he chuckled. "Seemed your loser friends made it out of those caves. And who are they with? That rich CEO? Let's go check it out."

I finally went along without a fight.

The both of us went up to a nearby tower where Keith finally released my hand since he knew that I wouldn't run off with my friends so far away and him so close. It couldn't hear a thing from where I was and the breeze that echoed through the stone castle.

Even though I was asleep for Jounouchi and Kaiba's duel, I knew the basic mechanics of how Kaiba's prototype duel disks worked. For this duel though, the mechanics were more advanced as both of them could now attack the face down cards in their opponent's hands. It seemed underhanded but this was Kaiba so I didn't say anything.

I watched the coming and going of monsters, running the numbers through my head numerous times until my brain began to hurt. It was painful to see Yami being pushed continually in and out of a corner with Kaiba's tactics of pummeling without mercy. The definite pain was when Kaiba used his Crush Card Virus against Yugi's deck, destroying every card in his deck that had 1500 attack points or more. Compared to sheer mass of Kaiba's deck, a single attack could wipe Yami out. Even so, Yami managed to hang on.

That is…. Until the Ultimate Dragon came forth.

It was just as terrifying as the first time I had ever seen it in the show. The 4500 attack point dragon was pretty much indestructible and Yami practically had Kaiba on the ropes after a turn or two using Kuriboh along with Multiply but Kaiba once again turned the tables on Yami. He stepped up onto the ledge, telling Yami to attack and pretty much kill him.

"Kaiba, what the hell are you doing?!" I screamed down from the tower, effectively scaring Keith next to me. "No game is worth killing yourself over!"

Kaiba gave a glance up at me but I couldn't hear if he replied. "Oh god…." I whimpered out. "Oh god… Oh god… Oh god…"

Celtic Guardian nearly went in for the kill but quickly stopped. Yugi quickly collapsed onto the ground and with the revived Blue Eyes head, Kaiba quickly ended the duel with a single blast.

My hands started to shake as the thoughts off what would happen next took over my mind. Kaiba would take five of Yugi's star chips and get into the castle while Yugi….. He would be kicked off the island…. Grandpa couldn't be saved…..

"That brat had the duel in the bag and he goes and lets it go?" Keith asked. "How pathetic."

"Pathetic?!"I snapped at him. "You wouldn't know the courage that took."

"Courage?"

I gave Keith a cold glare.

"It takes more courage to spare a life than to take one. You could never understand that."

Keith huffed at me before tugging me off again. I passed a glance at my friends before they were hidden from me by the stone walls. Keith passed Kaiba and the CEO gave me a passing look before simply stalking passed us. Jerk.

"Christine!" I heard Jounouchi's voice behind me.

I turned around and tried to wave but Bandit Keith tugged at me even harder. "Just hang on, okay?! We're gonna get you! Just hold on!"

"Ok!" I called back. "Please hurry!"

I heard calls of agreement before I was tugged at again and entered the castle. The both of us were escorted to what looked like a duel arena then we were left alone.

"Ah, alone at last…" Keith sighed out.

His arm wrapped around my waist, tugging me into his side, and I nearly gave into the urge to freeze his entire arm and not care if I gave him hypothermia. Trying to pull away, I mentally begged for anyone to recognize that I wasn't very willing to be with this guy. I would even take Pegasus showing up than staying right here.

"You mind letting go?" I huffed out, trying to pull away from his grip once more. "This is a severe breach of my personal space. My boyfriend is going to be pretty pissed if he finds out about this."

"I'm sure he won't mind sharing." Keith chuckled, pulling me even tighter.

I gave out a small whimper when his grip began to dig into my hip. Keith gave another chuckle and tightened his grip even more.

"Oh, he will." A friendly voice appeared down the hall. "Believe me, I've met him when he was pissed."

I gave a bright smile before I turned to see my friends walk up toward us. Jounouchi's face was a complete scowl as he glared at Bandit Keith. Yugi's face was also a deadpan, his amethyst eyes moving between Bandit Keith and myself.

"Guys!" I cheered. "You made it!"

"Of course we did!" Honda smiled at me. "We had to come get you!"

I continued to smile and attempt to tug free from the tight grip. Mai, who had come in with the group, walked over to me and wrenched Keith's arm away from me and I was quick to give a thankful hug. I would've thought that Keith would have fought back but he must have realized he was all by himself against all of my friends; he scoffed and turned back to face the railing. I was brought back over to my friends and I pulled each of them into tight hugs. Jounouchi's was the tightest and was definitely comforting but the one that made me cry was Yugi's. His arms reached just above my waist and his head right at my chest made me suddenly feel like I was the child. I couldn't help but think I had lied to Yugi when I said that Yami wouldn't hurt them. I sobbed lightly as I apologized.

"I'm sorry… Please forgive me… He only wanted to help you…."

Yugi didn't say anything but smiled when I finally pulled away. Anzu handed me a tissue and helped me to wipe away the tears that had streamed down my cheeks. When I returned to a semblance of calm, I turned to Jounouchi, who had begun to speak to Bandit Keith.

"Thanks for trapping us in that cave!" Jounouchi 'thanked' Bandit Keith. "I'm gonna kill…!"

"Keep your pants on, will ya?" Bandit Keith finally snapped at Jounouchi, barely even glancing over to him. "The show's about to start! I'll deal with you later!"

"Show?"

"Look!"

We all did and the rest of my friends gasped to see that it was a duel arena. Far below, Kaiba stood on one side, the briefcase with his duel disks at his side. He had come in during my struggle and he was so intent on his mission that he didn't even notice that I was trapped. "You're just in time for the Duel between Kaiba and Pegasus."

Yugi's eyes widened at the words.

"Indeed." Croquet's voice appeared next to us.

Pegasus' butler, a middle aged man with sunglasses and his signature mustache, walked into the small hallway with us. "My friends… The four contestants in the championship tournament, welcome to Pegasus' Castle." He then turned to Anzu, Honda, Bakura and myself. "Ahhh… It seems like a few uninvited guests have wandered in as well. In any case… we present to you a special match. A special welcome by Mr. Pegasus for you proud gamers who survived Duelist Kingdom."

We all looked down to where Kaiba was standing. He seemed extremely angry, which I had no doubt he was. After having everything, including his brother, taken from him, I'm pretty sure he had an excuse to be a tad bit mad.

After a moment or so, Pegasus entered the room. He was wearing his crimson suit with his silver hair covering his left eye as usual. On his face was a bright smile.

"Welcome to my castle!" He greeted cheerfully. "Good to see you again, Kaiba-boy! I've been waiting for the day when I could battle a proud duelist such as yourself right here in my own Duelist Kingdom."

Kaiba simply gave a sneer. "No need to worry, Kaiba-boy. Once our duel is safely over, I'll give back your dear little brother. Now, Kaiba-boy! Let's enjoy a great duel!"

"Let's go, Pegasus!" Kaiba growled back.

"The King of Duelist Kingdom…" Yugi muttered. "What kind of power does Pegasus have…?"

I wanted to reply with something but the only things my mind came up with were pretty depressing so I didn't say anything.

"Rats!" Jounouchi grouched. "I want 'em both to lose! Kaiba and Pegasus! If Pegasus loses, the championship tournament is ruined! Let's hope to see Kaiba's loserness!"

I was tempted to glare at Jounouchi's apparent rudeness but decided against it. Jounouchi had a vendetta against Kaiba and I couldn't do anything about it.

Pegasus looked up to us and gave a bright smile.

"It looks like the four official finalists have gathered in the castle. The contestants for the Championship tournament."

Kaiba finally looked up to us and his eyes widened when he caught sight of Yugi. The CEO then gave a smile, like he knew that Yugi would find a way to get into the castle. After a moment, Kaiba returned his gaze back to Pegasus. "Now then, let's start our little game…"

"Before that, Pegasus!" Kaiba quickly interrupted. "Where's Mokuba?!"

"Never fear, Kaiba-boy. You'll be allowed to see him soon! Now, about the means of our duel. I have a feeling you've brought an interesting contraption with you, something called a Duel Disk?"

Kaiba quickly set his briefcase down and tossed one of the Duel Disks over to Pegasus, who struggled to handle it properly.

"That's right, Pegasus! We fight with this disk or I don't fight at all!"

Pegasus looked much like a cartoon character then, attempting to figure out how to throw the Duel Disk properly.

"It looks exhausting…" Pegasus sighed out. "I'm not very good at physical sports… How about this, then. I'll fight you with the Duel Disk but I'll use a proxy to wield it for me."

A proxy? Meaning a human shield?

"What?!" Kaiba growled out.

"Now, now. I'll choose the cards myself! It doesn't change the fact that I'm your opponent, understand?"

"You'll use the disk and fight me one on one!"

Pegasus said nothing more on that topic but soon gave a smile, gesturing to the hall he had come from.

"Now… As promised. I will let you see Mokuba-boy!"

Like Pegasus said, Mokuba was brought out but he wasn't himself. The boy's eyes were glazed over and he walked much like a zombie. Pegasus didn't…..

"Mokuba!" Kaiba called to his brother but there was no response. "Mokuba!"

"What's the matter with him?" Anzu asked aloud. "He looks weird and he's not even responding to Kaiba!"

"Pegasus! What did you do to my brother?!"

Pegasus chuckled as he pulled what looked to be a duel monster card out. We were all too far away to see what was printed on the card but Pegasus was ever so grateful to explain it to us.

"His body can't speak to you because I sealed his soul in the Shadow Card." Pegasus explained.

Oh Hecate, he really did…. He took Mokuba's soul! "The Mokuba in front of your eyes is just a shell, he has enough volition to obey me. Kaiba-boy… If you can defeat me, I'll free his soul from the card. Your brother Mokuba will be yours." Pegasus then handed the Duel Disk to Mokuba. "And that brings us to our match. If you insist on challenging me with the Duel Disk, I nominate Mokuba-boy to throw the disk in my place."

What….?

"That is messed up." I muttered out. "Asking Kaiba to fight his younger brother. How twisted can this guy get?"

The two ended up not using the Duel Disks and using the normal duel arena. Just when the two were shuffling each other's decks, Yugi exclaimed down to Kaiba.

"Look out, Kaiba!" Yugi cried. "Pegasus has a Dragon Capture Jar!"

Kaiba gave Yugi wide eyes and Jounouchi was quick to ask a question. I saw that Pegasus glanced up at us, a light smirk on his face. It was almost like he was amused that Yugi was trying to help Kaiba.

"Yugi, why are you giving Kaiba advice?" He asked.

"I have to!" Yugi retorted. "Don't you know? Kaiba is fighting to get back Mokuba! He's fighting for his brother's soul! He can't lose!"

I could compare this to Jounouchi. As Jounouchi was fighting to rescue Shizuka's eyes, Kaiba was fighting to rescue the soul of one of the people he cared about most.

The Duel went longer than I remembered it. Probably since I was now emotionally invested and stared at each played card intensely. Pegasus, of course, used his Toon cards and Kaiba went on a careful assault but Pegasus was hardly a fair player. Using his mind reading, he read through each and every one of Kaiba's strategies and was able to counter them with ease.

What really freaked me out was the whole tangent about cartoons. Sure, I liked cartoons as a kid: Adams family, Loony Toons and such, but that kind of admiration is a little unhealthy. Then came Toon World and all of the monsters that could pop out of its pages. Every single card Pegasus played became a toon, even Kaiba's Blue Eyes after the creator took the dragon. I had to hide my face in order not to see the monstrosity it had become but I soon had to open my eyes again.

I was lucky I did as that was the moment Kaiba picked the top card in his deck and played it. Another Blue Eyes appeared and I gave a relieved sigh.

"Look at that!" Bakura exclaimed.

"Kaiba drew a Blue Eyes White Dragon too!" Jounouchi gawked out.

"Kaiba realized Pegasus could read minds, so he threw his hand away." Yugi explained. "He risked everything on a card that he knew nothing about and it was his best card!"

Mai began to laugh.

"Read minds?!" She shrieked in laughter. "What are you talking about?! Take it from me, that's fake! Right, Christine?"

She turned to me with a bright smile but I didn't smile back. I slowly nodded my head and the smile faded.

"It's true." I simply said.

Mai didn't reply, her face now caught in a terrified expression, as she looked to me then back to the duel.

"It's Kaiba's dragon against American comic dude's dragon!" Jounouchi summed up.

I wanted to think that it was going to be a simple matter from then on but I was wrong. Since Toon World was on the field, no toon could be destroyed. No matter what was thrown their way, they simply couldn't be killed! I overheard the rest of the gang talking about how Toon World was overpowered. It was and with the fact that is was never released to the public, nobody knew how to beat it.

Even so, Kaiba managed to pull through again. After Shine Palace increased the toon dragon's attack and it was going to end the duel, Kaiba managed to protect himself with Negate Attack and drew Shadow Spell which gave him the edge. Unfortunately, that was Pegasus' cue to play Dragon Capture Jar and combined it with Kaiba's Crush Card Virus.

It was over…

Kaiba's soul was trapped into another Shadow Card and his body taken away. I clenched the railing, fighting with myself to not cry. Pegasus was a monster!

"Kaiba risked his life to duel… to get Mokuba back…." Yugi's voice was hoarse in anger.

I settled a hand on his shoulder but he didn't look to me. The only thing I saw was the Millennium Puzzle begin to glow. The shiver ran down my spine once more as Yami began to rise up from the Puzzle.

"Pegasus!" Yami barked down to the silver haired man. "I won't forgive you for this! I promise I'll defeat you!"

Pegasus only sent a smirk up toward us before calling up to the balcony.

"Oh… Yugi-boy!" He chirped. "I'm so glad you care but you'll have to win the championship to earn the right to fight me!"

"I know that!" Yami growled. "But get ready! I won't be satisfied until I destroy you!"

That comment was subtly ignored as Pegasus went to address all of the finalists as a whole.

"The Championship Tournament is tomorrow morning! It will be held in this arena! Out of four duelists, only one of you will have the glory of facing me in battle!"

The man next to Pegasus then stepped out and held up two cards.

"Duelists! To enter the finals with Pegasus, you will need the special cards which were sent with your original invitation! Even if you are the winner, those without cards will be disqualified! Is that clear?"

Yami pulled his cards out of his jacket pocket and I looked over his shoulder to look at them as well. I knew Jounouchi didn't have them and I was positive neither did Bandit Keith since he snuck onto the island but that wouldn't stop him.

"Well then, my fair Duelists…" Pegasus began as he walked away. "I'll see you back here tomorrow!"

We all watched him leave, a mixture of glares and deadpan expressions following him. Mai was the next one to leave.

"All right." She began. "From now on, we're enemies! The time for friends is over! Yugi, Jounouchi, good luck!"

"Though could you still braid my hair later?" I asked, a bright smile in place.

Mai stopped and gave me a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "I was just asking!"

"Ask me later, dear." Mai chuckled as she began to walk off again.

I giggled lightly before looking back to the cards that Yami was staring at intently. The one with the piles of gold was for the prize money and the other one was for the challenge with Pegasus where the loser would have his soul sealed inside the card. It was only a slightly creepy notion.

"Jounouchi!" Yami suddenly spoke to the blond. "We have to make it to the final round!"

"Y-yeah!" Jounouchi was quick to respond but his face dropped quickly. "But there's a problem. I don't have the card…"

"Jounouchi… When we arrived on the island, we split my star chips between us, right?"

"Yeah…"

Yami held out the the card labeled 'The Honor of the King's Right.'

"Then this card belongs to you too! If we advance to the championship round, you take the prize. Take it for Shizuka!"

Jounouchi took the card very hesitantly and stared at it as if it were already the prize money. Yami held the other card, the blank one, close to himself. "And I'll take this card and beat Pegasus to get Grandpa back!"

"Question!" I quickly interjected. "What happens if you two are paired up for the first round?"

"Then we'll just have to fight." Yami replied.

"W-we will?" Jounouchi asked.

"Yugi… do you have a plan to counteract Pegasus' mind scan?" Bakura asked suddenly.

"No." Yami replied while he shrugged.

"I figured as much." I deadpanned.

Yami quickly flicked my forehead with his nearby hand. "Ow! What the heck?!" Yami ignored me.

"His Millennium Eye is troublesome. I don't have a perfect solution but just the same, I will crush Pegasus!"

"All right!" Jounouchi cheered. "That's the spirit!"

Footsteps approached us from behind and we all turned to see Croquet, the butler.

"Excuse me." He came into our conversation politely. "If you all could follow me, a dinner party has been arranged. Please step this way."

"About time!" Jounouchi exclaimed, jumping to follow after the butler. "I'm starved!"

"Has he ever heard of a thing called tact?" I muttered.

"Probably not." Yami muttered back. "You know how he is with food."

"True." I giggled out.

We all began to follow Croquet, my arms clenched around Yami's again; this time with a lot more force than before.

"That guy didn't hurt you, right Christine?" Anzu suddenly asked me.

I shook my head.

"Other than my wrists and waist hurting, I'm fine."

Jounouchi gave a light growl.

"If that guy left as much of a bruise on you, I'm gonna kill him."

"Relax, Jounouchi." I gave a light smile to the overprotective blond. "I'm fine, really. Want to see?"

I let go of Yami's arm and held up my wrists, flipping them back and forth to show that there were no bruises on them. Jounouchi nodded his approval and continued his pace after Croquet. I wrapped my arms once more around Yami's and followed after.

"I'm glad you're ok." I heard Yami mutter.

I glanced up to him and saw a sad gleam in his eyes. He only wished to help Yugi save Grandpa and would have done anything to do just that, even risk Kaiba's life. Yami was the proud gamer that Yugi wasn't, able to risk everything to make sure they won, and Yugi was the kind, compassionate soul that didn't want to truly hurt anyone, even someone who had tried to kill him before. They both needed to learn each other's ways and work together. I hope they could do that soon.

"Are you two ok?" I asked.

Yami sighed.

"Still in a bit of shock." He admitted. "I don't know what to make of anything."

That was Yugi speaking, not Yami. I held onto the arm tightly once more.

"If you need anything, just come to me."

Yami nodded and we soon entered the dining room.

"Please take a seat." Croquet gestured into the room.

Mai was already inside the room when we entered and gave a simple greeting as she settled a napkin on her lap. There had to be nearly a dozen different types of food on that table. Meats and soups were plentiful and even some other delicacies. My stomach rumbled much to my chagrin.

"Wow!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "That's a nice spread! All right then… I guess I'll let Pegasus feed me!"

Anzu huffed beside me.

"This is the first time they've fed us properly." The girl sighed.

"You'd think they would—Gak!" I made the noise at the end because Yami quickly elbowed me in the side to get my attention. "What is it?!"

"Look!" I followed where his eyes were looking and my own eyes widened.

A portrait of Shadi was hanging on the wall!

I hadn't seen anything of Shadi since the day of his game with Yami on the school roof. Why was a picture of him here at Pegasus' castle?

"What's a painting of Shadi doing here?!" Jounouchi exclaimed.

Bakura was obviously confused by our words. He hadn't arrived yet when Shadi was here.

" 'Shadi'?" He asked. "Who's that? He looks Egyptian…"

"He possesses a Millennium Item too…" Yami replied with.

Bakura's eyes widened at the words. "Do you see the ankh around his neck? It's a key!"

"The Millennium Key!" I jumped in. "Using it, he has the power to enter anyone's mind and be able to control them."

Anzu gave a shiver.

"I don't like remembering that day." She shivered out.

"How much do you remember, anyway?"

"Not much." Anzu admitted. "It's all a haze. You had a lot more pain than I did, apparently."

I nodded slightly. I had a number of migraines for a while afterwards from the mental strain.

"This guy wanted to know the secret of Yugi's Millennium Puzzle too…" Jounouchi explained. "Just like the bad guy inside your Millennium Ring, if you don't mind me saying…"

"Oh the ring?" Bakura asked, almost sheepishly. "You don't need to worry about it. I won't let it take over my mind anymore."

Bakura turned to look at Yami before I could let my thoughts linger on the tone he used. "Yugi, this proves what I thought before! The secrets of the Millennium Items are hidden on this island! Pegasus knows what's going on!"

"It does seem that way." Yami agreed. "It's certain Pegasus' Millennium Eye has something to do with Shadi."

Anzu pointed out the portrait next to Shadi's next. It was a beautiful blonde woman wearing a formal dress.

"Who's the woman?" She asked.

"She's beautiful." Bakura breathed out.

"If I was squinting, I'd say she looked a lot like Christine." Honda added on.

"Hardly!" I argued. "She's much prettier!"

Croquet then came into the conversation before it went down even deeper.

"These portraits were painted by Mr. Pegasus himself." Croquet explained. "But don't expect him to tell you anything about them. He doesn't like to discuss them."

I noticed Yami glance over to Croquet but not say anything. "Now please… That's enough art appreciation. The soup will get cold."

"Oh! That's right!" Jounouchi exclaimed.

"Hurry up and sit down, you guys!" Mai told us, her voice slightly annoyed. "I've been waiting for you to show up before I start eating."

"That's very kind of you, Mai." I smiled as we all went to sit down.

The butler settled the three present finalists into specific seats before settling the food. I settled down between Yugi and Anzu, listening to Croquet mumble to himself. Bandit Keith still hadn't arrived yet but we probably would just start without him anyway.

"On behalf of Mr. Pegasus, I'm so glad you could all make it!" Croquet began. "Let's celebrate the tournament tomorrow!"

Jounouchi was quick to begin stuffing his face full of food and as I made my way slowly through my plate, my gaze caught onto Honda's. His face was pensive, like he was thinking hard about something. I wanted to poke Yami and have him ask Honda if he was ok for me but Jounouchi caught sight of the look as well.

"What is it, Honda?" Jounouchi asked.

Honda looked up to us and apparently locked eyes with Yami.

"Yugi, I want to ask you…." Honda began softly. "Can you save the Kaiba brothers?"

I tilted my head at the question. Why was he asking this? I remember that Mokuba rescued Honda from the falling block challenge from Death-T but what was Honda asking for?

"Honda….?" Anzu breathed out.

"I know if you think about the siblings, the things they did to us, it's sickening… But still, I owe Mokuba! That kid saved my life at 'Death-T'!"

Jounouchi gave a scoff.

"They got what they deserved!" Jounouchi grouched. "There's no need to help them!"

That ground my gears. I went to freeze his food but Yami gave a surreptitious shake of his head; I still gave a dirty glare to Jounouchi, who didn't notice it.

"Jounouchi!" Honda gave a harsh reproach. "You're fighting for your sister! Don't you realize that's just like Kaiba?"

Jounouchi seemed to flinch at his friend's words. "I have a nephew; he's a total brat and a weirdo but if his life's in danger, I'll protect him! I don't care what I have to do!"

"I remember seeing Kaiba when he took your Grandpa, Yugi." Bakura added on. "Though I've never met him in person before this island. It's true, he does seem arrogant…. Selfish… It feels like you can't get close to him. But if he risked his life to save his brother, I can't believe he's all bad."

"Bakura!" Jounouchi huffed out his friend' name. "You don't know what he's really like!"

"I'm sorry." Bakura gave a soft sigh as he apologized.

I glanced over at Yami to see him thinking for a moment before he looked back to Honda.

"Mokuba and Seto had their souls sealed inside Pegasus' cards." Yami began. "If that seal can be broken, there's a chance."

Honda's expression brightened at Yami's words. "But I can only help with the cards. If their soulless bodies confined somewhere, it might be harder to set them free…" Honda's expression then became intense. I think I remembered what he was planning but I said nothing; it wouldn't have helped.

"Hmph!" Jounouchi huffed from his nearby seat before he started to eat his soup again. "Sheesh! Do whatever you want!"

What appeared from the soup then didn't make me scream but it did make me lose the rest of my appetite. A golden eyeball, much like the Millennium Eye, plopped out of the soup. Jounouchi screamed though. "Yaggh! What the heck is this?!"

Mai then appeared to choke on her soup.

"It's in my soup too!" She screamed out, the eyeball in her mouth.

Yami glanced down at his soup for a moment before he lifted up the eyeball in his spoon. The spirit looked over at me and I gave an over exaggerated shiver in disgust.

"IIIIITTT'S SHOWTIME!" Pegasus' voice and his face suddenly appeared on the TV on the far end of the room.

Everyone turned their heads to watch him. "Hello, everybody! How do you like my favorite soup-?"

"Thanks for the meal, jerk!" Jounouchi growled out quickly, holding out the eyeball that had come from his soup. "I knew it was poison! They always say it's not poison!"

"Oh, that!" Pegasus acted like he didn't remember doing that. "That's part of tonight's main dish! The Heart-Pounding Tournament Entrée Bingo Game!"

"Tournament Bingo?!" Mai exclaimed.

"What's that?!" Jounouchi exclaimed as well.

"Bingo? Seriously?" I whispered to Anzu and she gave me a shrug with a scared expression on her face.

Of course I knew the rules of actual bingo but Pegasus' game might have been a little different.

"All the participants in the championship tournament should have been given a replica Millennium Eye!" Pegasus seemed to notice that Bandit Keith wasn't there, his visible eye glancing over to the one empty seat, but didn't find it consequential and kept going. "Now! Crack that eye open!"

Jounouchi, Mai and Yami all popped open their eyes and stared incredulously at them. There were pieces of paper inside the fake eyes that each had a large letter printed on them. Jounouchi had 'D', Mai had 'B' and Yami had 'A'; which most likely left Bandit Keith with 'C'. This definitely wasn't the Bingo that I was thinking of. "Now the… Time to announce the order of play!"

The TV screen shifted into a leaderboard like screen that had all the numbers on the bottom. A would duel B and C would duel D. Which meant….

"I get to fight Keith!" Jounouchi growled out, obviously pleased with the arrangement.

"I play Yugi in the first round!" Mai was definitely pleased.

Yami simply kept his arms crossed and stared at the screen, or more likely, at Pegasus.

"That's it!" Pegasus cheered. "The soup never lies! I look forward to the Tournament! See you, tomorrow!"

The screen shut off, leaving all of us still confused and more tired than ever. Croquet stepped forward then.

"It's time to call it a night." He simply said. "We will now show you to your rooms."

Of course Jounouchi complained about the lack of food and Bakura asked Yami for his Millennium Eye replica. Mai gathered her bag and when she was nearly out of the room, she glanced back at Yami.

"Hey, Yugi!" She called. "Let's have a fair fight tomorrow!"

Yami gave a smile at the words.

"Yes!" He replied with.

"Later guys!"

I watched her leave but was distracted when Jounouchi cried out again, finally over the fact that dinner was over.

"All right." He sighed out. "We should get some sleep too!"

Croquet lead us out of the dining room and toward a long hall of what seemed to be guest rooms. Bakura and Honda branched off first, saying goodnight and entering the rooms. Jounouchi broke off next but making sure to encourage Yami, well, Yugi mostly, but the spirit was still in control for the moment.

"Tomorrow morning, let's do it!" Jounouchi told Yami. "Let's get those honors!"

Yami of course agreed and the blond went to bed. Anzu went next.

"Good night, Yugi, Christine." She told us.

"Good night, Anzu." Yami replied.

"'Night!" I chirped as well.

She smiled at the both of us before she turned to enter her room. It was now just Yami and myself. It was a comfortable silence but I knew it would get awkward sooner or later. I took the next free room as my cue to break off as well. "Well, I better get to sleep as well. Good night, Yugi." I said Yugi because Croquet was still in ear shot.

"Good night, Christine." Yami replied.

It was short, to the point. I didn't want Pegasus, through Croquet, to get any ideas on how to get to Yugi before he reached the final round. I gave a final smile before branching away.

I entered my room and immediately sighed. Today was too stressful, hardly good for anyone's blood pressure. I didn't want to be overwhelmed with the memories so I distracted myself with mundane tasks until I was actually in bed and then there was nothing to distract me.

I was here in Pegasus' castle… Was there a possibility that I could be next to fall in his trek to get to Yugi? I didn't like that thought. Even from that first 'visit' from Pegasus when he appeared in the cassette over a week ago, the creator must have known that Yugi and I were close and probably would have loved another chance to crack him. My fist clenched and I felt an icicle begin to form in the palm of my hand; he'd have to get through a blizzard in order to get to Yugi or Yami. I gave a sigh, tossing the small icicle off the bed to melt on the floor. Then there was that…. My powers were meant to remain quiet, a secret, but what if Pegasus found out? Would there be repercussions? I sighed into my pillow, trying to force the dark thoughts out of my mind.

"It's going to be a restless night, I can tell."

 **Thanks for reading guys! I love all of the love that comes my way!**

 **YamiyoSenju: Thank you for your marvelous comment! It made all of this work all worth it! I would totally have Christine duel; I even have her deck and a possible idea all set up and everything! The only thing... I can't write duels worth anything. If anyone wants me to post her deck on her, just ask, I'd be willing to let you all see it and give me some critiques (I made it up with one idea in mind and it may not be the best).**

 **Hope to see you all soon!**

 **RobynHood3**


	13. A Hysteric Party

**Heya guys! Hope everyone is doing well! I'm excited for the semester to be nearly over but I have a summer class so I'll have an extra month of school... Sigh... But next semester is going to be great. I found an Ancient Egyptian Art History class... This is going to be amazing!**

 **And random thought that appears to me: I was re-reading 'A Witchy Idea' recently, while trying not to cringe at my writing style, I realized that Christine's initials spell CAW. Christine Annalise Wilson... Why didn't I realize that before? Now I'm stuck laughing at the whole 'CAW CAW Mother-!' You get the joke.**

 ***I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Only my OC, Christine.***

It definitely was a sleepless night, especially at around 3 in the morning. I had faded in and out of consciousness with no deep sleep in sight. There was shouting and the sound of someone slamming into a door. I shot out of bed and raced to see what was going on.

Yugi was barely standing, leaning against his door for balance, Bandit Keith had one fist wrapped into his pajamas and Jounouchi stood above them, grabbing hold of the other fisted hand of Bandit Keith.

"Why you…" Jounouchi growled out. "You think you can hit my friend?"

Bandit Keith was quick to retaliate but Jounouchi was faster in beating Keith off of Yugi and getting the older man to the ground. "Hey Keith, you may be good at cards… but when it comes to fighting, I'm pretty good too." Jounouchi backed off for a second but didn't relax his fists. "But I won't use my fists here! I'm gonna save this hand to draw the cards that'll beat you tomorrow!"

Bandit Keith scoffed lightly but did back off. Once he was a good distance away, I jumped over to Jounouchi and Yugi, immediately checking for injuries. Anzu must have been woken up by the noise and stepped out of her room to check on us as well.

"Are you okay, Yugi?" I asked, checking over his face. "I heard a big bang!"

Yugi didn't reply, his eyes were fixed on Bandit Keith's back. I took that as a 'Yes, Christine, I'm fine. My back and face really hurt a lot but I'm fine!' I sighed lightly and continued to check him over.

"Jounouchi…" Yugi finally spoke. "What was Keith doing in front of your room?"

"I dunno…" Jounouchi replied. "He was probably half-asleep and went to the wrong place…"

Highly doubtable, I thought. Keith was most likely up to no good again but we wouldn't find out what he had done till tomorrow.

Anzu and I helped Yugi into his room. I only left for a moment to grab my elixir to help with the bruise on Yugi's face. The teen was extremely pushy, saying that he didn't need the help but the combined might of our glares managed to convince him. Jounouchi stood near the door, just in case Keith came back for another crack at us. I dabbed at his cheek and he gave a hiss of pain.

"It doesn't hurt that much." I teased. "Barely a bruise!"

Jounouchi left for bed once more after five minutes, leaving us girls and Yugi behind. It only took another few minutes for Anzu and I to finish looking Yugi over. The punch shouldn't even leave a bruise now so that was good news for tomorrow.

I went to stand up to go to bed but was distracted by the puzzle on the nightstand. The golden puzzle glinted at me, much like a greeting. I smiled at it and walked toward it. I could faintly hear a small conversation between Yugi and Anzu but I ignored them and picked up the puzzle.

It was heavy, I couldn't believe that Yugi had the strength to carry it around his neck all day. The golden glow gave comfort and I smiled down at it again. We all would be fine; everything would work out and we'd make it back home. Finally, I turned back to the conversation that Yugi was having.

"Someday, I'm going to be stronger…" Yugi was saying. "Strong enough not to lose to the other me!"

Anzu nodded comfortingly and Yugi looked up at me, the determination much like Yami's in his eyes. He was dead serious. I nodded as well to him and set down the puzzle to finally head to bed.

I had finally gone to sleep at about 4 in the morning but Jounouchi woke me mercilessly. I made a groan and a light curse at the blond but got out of bed anyway. Quickly washing my face and brushing my teeth, I gathered my belongings and met Jounouchi and Anzu out in the hall.

"Morning!" Anzu chirped.

"Morning, Christine!" Jounouchi greeted.

"Morning, sleep wrecker." I greeted teasingly.

Jounouchi took offense at the name but chuckled anyway. I thought about where Honda and Bakura were, figuring that the two of them were looking for Kaiba and Mokuba. I hope they're ok….

The three of us then walked over to Yugi's room and Jounouchi threw the door open quickly.

"Hey, Yugi!" The blond cheered. "You up yet?"

"Have you ever heard of knocking, Jounouchi?" I deadpanned and Anzu laughed.

We then noticed what Yugi was wearing. He wasn't wearing the normal white shirt but the leather undershirt instead. He was also wearing his leather pants and boots. I enjoyed the light blush that covered Anzu's cheeks at the sight. In his hands was the Millennium Puzzle.

"Well, Yugi…" Anzu eventually said. "Today's the day!"

Yugi nodded seriously in response.

"Are you ready, man?" Jounouchi asked. "Let's go to the arena!"

Yugi didn't reply, he simply slid the rope of the puzzle over his neck and I felt the shiver down my spine. Yugi's jacket was thrown to his shoulders in a make shift cape and Yami gave all of us a thumbs up.

"All right!" Yami replied. "Let's go!"

It was a short walk back to the main duel area that we were in yesterday but it felt long to me. I didn't like the nervous twinge that kept running up and down my spine. I kept my hands straight at my sides, forcing them to not clench into fists. Anzu and Jounouchi had both noticed that Honda and Bakura were gone and I figured that Yami had the same thought that I had before we checked on him this morning.

Croquet greeted us at the front door to the duel arena.

"Duelists of the Championship Tournament…" He began. "We have been waiting for you. Please enter the duel room."

Anzu and I didn't follow Yami and Jounouchi, we went to a far side of the room to where everyone else would watch the duel. Mai was standing near the table, her deck in hand and a smirk on her face. Bandit Keith was leaning against a pillar, a smirk on his face as well. I couldn't hear exactly what was being said but I knew it was either trash talk or boasts; Keith probably did both. When Pegasus got into the room, everything became quiet and he was able to be heard even where we were. He was way above the rest of us, helping to carry his voice across the room.

"Welcome, Proud Duelists!" He called out. "Welcome to this holy place sanctified by our duels! The Championship Tournament will begin now!"

The four finalists lined up in the small duel dome, gazes fixed on Pegasus. "The one who survives the Tournament will be given the prize of champions! Let me give you a preview!"

The two body guards that stood on opposite sides of the man brought out a large golden chest and opened it, revealing large amounts of coins and stacks of bills. "A prize of 200,000 dollars!"

"Wow!" I breathed out. "That's…. Wait….."

I counted it out on my fingers, finding out the exchange rate, then let my jaw drop again. "That's a lot of money when it goes to yen."

"Enough for Jounouchi's sister!" Anzu breathed back to me.

I nodded before looking back to the group below us. Croquet was announcing the first duel: Yugi vs. Mai. Unfortunately, a blush rushed across my face when Yami pulled his jacket off from his shoulders and tossed it aside to Jounouchi. Why does he always have to do that?! The blond moved to stand next to Anzu and me to begin watching the duel. He handed me the jacket so that Jounouchi had his hands free for later, when he dueled.

From where we were standing, we could hear what was truly being said and the duel monsters were plainly clear. Their faces were a slight blur but I could tell that Yami was not even looking at Mai, which was not a good sign. He was so intent on getting to Pegasus, he wasn't going to pay attention to what was in front of him. 'Please pay attention, if you don't, you may not even get to Pegasus.'

Mai played her Harpy Lady first then settled a face down card next to it just as Jounouchi commented that eve he could beat that card. This seemed to be the same deck that she had always used, powering up her Harpy Lady, but I knew something was different. In response, Yami played Gaia the Fierce Knight and immediately called an attack. I froze in place just as Mai cried out.

"I played a trap card!" She exclaimed. "Mirror Wall!"

Oh boy…. With Yami unable to do anything, Gaia ended up attacking his own reflection, halving his attack points. Mai used the opportunity to power up her Harpy Lady and destroyed Gaia. I didn't want to hold my breath in anticipation but I didn't want my face to give away my anxiety. This was only the beginning of the duel.

Yami played Summoned Skull and ended up falling for the same trap, as Mirror Wall was a permanent Trap Card. Every time Yami declared an attack, the mirror would come back.

"Hey Yugi!" Jounouchi cried out. "What's the matter?!"

"Yugi!" Anzu cried as well.

"Something's wrong! Look at how he's fighting! He's playing too fast and attacking without thinking! It's not like him to fall for the same trap twice!"

He's impatient…. With Pegasus so close, anybody against him would have been a little antsy. I glanced over to Pegasus to see that he had a slight smirk on his face, which meant he was reading Yami's mind.

Mai pestered Yami until he began to duel in earnest, deciding not to attack with the Mirror Wall in place. Unfortunately, Mai wasn't going to let go of the chance to continue to power up her Harpy Lady and attacking his monsters. If this kept up, he would lose due to lack of monsters like Kaiba had.

On Mai's next turn, I saw the smirk light up her face.

"Oh boy…." I breathed out. "I don't like that look."

I didn't like what she played either. Harpy's Pet Dragon…. With 2300 attack points, Summoned Skull with his regular power wouldn't be able to defeat it. The dragon sent a large fireball at the demon and I gave a flinch. Why did it always have to be fire?

Her next question brought me out of my thoughts.

"What can you show…. But you can't see?" She seemingly quoted. "If you don't know the answer, then I win!"

Jounouchi didn't like the tone of voice that the woman used since he gave a loud growl.

"Grrr…. 'What you can you show but you can't see', eh?" He barked out. "Mai! That's the question I asked you! Do you even know the answer yourself?"

Mai glanced over to us, a slight smirk on her face.

"Yes I do, Jounouchi." She replied. "I came up with my own answer."

"Hmph!" Jounouchi huffed. "Then I'll answer in place of Yugi! The answer is Friendship, of course! The firery spirit of Friends! Whaddya think of that?!"

The immediate image that popped into my traitorous mind was Honda when he was proclaiming something loudly to Miho when she was still at school with us. While it was an amusing image, it did send a slight flare of fear and panic down my spine. It's always fire, huh?

"Did he have to say 'firery', though?" I muttered out before Mai replied.

"I'm afraid that's incorrect. My answer's not such a cliché."

"Wh-What'd you say?! Well what is it then, darn it?" I was convinced that Jounouchi was going to start foaming at the mouth with that growl.

Mai didn't reply, looking back to her duel. Yami said nothing, looking to his cards. He played it safe by setting the Dark Magician in defense mode and a face down card, most likey Mirror Force, as back up. Sadly, Mai saw it coming. With her Shadow of Eyes magic card, she was able to stop any defensive plays that Yami would try to use and lowering the attack power of each of his monsters, then played Harpy's Feather Duster to get rid of Yami's trap card.

I gave a sigh. This was not good. Even Pegasus was smirking a storm, which was never good. "Yugi! What's going on?!"

"I don't believe it…" Anzu breathed out. "It's like Mai's a million times stronger than she was when she fought you, Jounouchi!"

"I was just plain lucky to beat her!" Jounouchi argued.

"No…." Mai quickly said. "Jounouchi… You didn't win by luck. Back when I fought you, I was playing as hard as I could. If you want to know the truth… when you beat me, I was devastated. But even when I turned my eyes away, I couldn't get your voice out of my ears… And when I confronted my real self, I understood the meaning of those words!"

Yami's eyes widened and a smile finally began to branch across my face. He was getting it. "Jounouchi, do you know why you got this far in the Tournament?"

"Huh?!" He gasped out. "It's cuz of my friends! That's why a bad player like me got this far!"

"That's right. You know your own weakness! You accept it and you try to become stronger to over come that weakness. That's the courage of a true duelist! That is what Jounouchi taught me!"

Jounouchi only looked confused but Mai didn't converse with him again. "Yugi! It is not in victory that a Duelist's courage is tested! It's after they lose! And a strong heart is born only when you are prepared to lose… Do you have that courage, Yugi?"

Yami seemed to flinch but said nothing for what seemed like forever. I figured, and knew, what was going through his head. Yugi was utterly terrified when Kaiba threatened to kill himself during the final few turns of their duel, he was scared to lose. Yami though, wasn't. The both of them make up for each other's weaknesses, which made them strong.

"Mai…" Yami finally spoke up. "I'm proud I got to fight you. This is where the real duel begins!"

And it did. Despite how bad the duel started, it was a quick turn around. The drawing of Brain Control and its use on Harpy's Pet Dragon was only the beginning. My other favorite monster, Catapult Turtle, appeared as well and destroyed Mai's trap card, causing massive giggles from me.

"I just love that freaking turtle!" I squeaked out.

"There's the enthusiastic Christine we know!" Jounouchi cheered out.

Anzu sighed at my enthusiasm but did nothing to hinder my fun.

Because Pet Dragon was Mai's monster, Catapult Turtle's effect lowered her lifepoints to 850, a more reasonable number for this duel. She drew a new card and looked over her options. She seemed to consider attacking, eyeing his new face down card warily, but even I gave a sudder at the look Yami was giving.

"Yikes..." I breathed out." He can be so scary!"

"I thought you knew that about him." Anzu asked.

"Yeah….. Hehe… Though, I've never seen that face before!"

Mai didn't attack, only playing Kaleidoscope, or Elegant Egotist as I grew up with, that separated her Harpy into three.

Yami's bluff had worked, his face down card was only Monster Recovery. He played it and got a brand new hand. Jounouchi, Anzu, nor I liked his expression.

"What's wrong, Yugi?!" Jounouchi called to him. "Hang it there! You can't give up!"

"Don't let those sleazy Harpies have their way with you!" Anzu cried as well.

I only thought for a moment before turning to Anzu.

"Is sleazy really the right word for them?" I asked.

"I don't care!" She huffed at me.

"Ok! Ok! Just asking!"

Just as I turned back to the duel, Yami was setting a monster in defense mode. How? The Shadow of Eyes wouldn't allow… Oh… I let out a snicker, leave it to Yami to figure this out.

"The Shadow of Eyes is based on Pheromones, chemicals which attract the opposite sex." Yami explained. "It works on men… not on women!"

While it was bullshit, it worked and I wasn't going to complain!

The lead didn't last long. Mai was able to last long bring back her Pet Dragon and destroy the Mystical Elf that he had summoned. Before I could even think about sighing, the heart of the cards came back to our side with Yami drawing and playing the Swords of Revealing Light.

He had three turns which he used to draw cards and summon monsters, including Kuriboh, to which Mai laughed histerically at. When the swords finally vanished, Mai relaxed in her chair.

"This is it!" She called down the table. "Show me what you did with the three turns you bought for yourself!"

Yami smiled.

" 'What I did', Mai?" He asked. "I gathered all the pieces of my victory!"

He played Black Luster Ritual, sacrificing his monsters to summon Black Luster Soldier, a behemoth of a monster with 3000 attack points! With a quick slice of his sword, he destroyed Harpy's Pet Dragon, lowering Mai's life points to only 750 but the duel was over anyway.

Mai settled her hand on her deck, the universal sign of surrender in Duel Monsters.

"I don't want to see my Harpies' injuried." She simply said.

All the monsters disappeared and Mai stood from the table. Before she could leave, Yami called softly to her.

"Mai…" She slightly turned to glance at him. "Thank you. You made me realize what I was about to lose sight of… 'What you can show but you can't see.' That's what you said."

"There's no such thing as an invincible Duelist, Yugi." Mai interrupted. "Everyone has some weakness in their hearts. Everyone knows it, but they try to cover it up. There are two ways to losing: A loss where everything truly ends, and a loss which is just a step on the road to victory. I will become stronger from this loss! And I'll grab my dream in the end!"

Yami smiled and nodded to her, which made Mai finally smile back.

As Mai walked away from the table, Croquet called the results.

"The first round of the Semi-Finals, Yugi Motou versus Mai Valentine…. Yugi wins! He obtains the right to go to the Finals!"

Yami walked calmly over to us but we were not as calm.

"That's great, Yugi!" Jounouchi cheered.

"I knew from the start that you'd definitely win!" Anzu cheered as well.

"Uh..." Yami seemed overwhelmed. "Thanks…."

I tried not to laugh but Yami noticed and gave me a raised eyebrow.

"What?" I asked, a bright smile on my face.

"Nothing." He simply said and that was it, since Pegasus began to clap loudly.

"Yugi-boy!" He applauded. "Congratulations!"

Yami only gave a huff and a dirty look but said nothing. Croquet spoke up again.

"Next is the second Semi-Final round… will the contestants please enter?" He called.

We all stood there for a second, taking it all in. They were going pretty fast into the next duel; I hoped that everything would be ok. I glanced over to Jounouchi, he wasn't moving to the table yet. Yami noticed it as well.

"Jounouchi!" Yami got the blond's attention, making him jump. "It's your turn."

"Right!" Jounouchi exclaimed out.

As Jounouchi gathered himself, I poked at Yami's cheek.

"Quit being so scary." I told him.

"I'm not being scary." He retorted.

"Oh, really?" I asked, poking his cheek again. "Then what was that look you gave to Mai?"

Yami didn't reply, probably thinking of the best response. I gave a Muttley snicker as I waited. "Got'cha!" The spirit elbowed me. "I know! I know! I'll be serious!"

I turned back to watch Jounouchi approach the table with fear and excitement. We couldn't help Jounouchi with this. He was truly on his own again. You can do it, Jounouchi! We all believe in you.

 **Hope you all enjoyed this!**

 **Quick question before I leave... One of my favorite sets of episodes from the first season was Kaiba's Virtual Game, would you all be ok with me doing that? I know it's just a big recap of the first season but I love it so much! And you all would get a chance to see some of the cards in Christine's deck. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!**

 **RobynHood3**


	14. Domo Arigato, Mr Roboto

**I know I know, I'm the most horrible person on the planet right now... I've been so busy with last minute things that I haven't nor had the motivation to write anything! My older sister graduated college, I'm in a summer class and the end of year performance is a few weeks away for work. I'm exhausted! But here is the next chapter!**

 **I came up with the title right after I put up the previous one and I couldn't stop laughing! XD**

 ***I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any other thing you recognize in this chapter. I only own Christine, my OC***

Bandit Keith yawned loudly as Jounouchi began to approach him. My mother would have been appalled at his manners as his feet were also settled on the table. Great, his manners were as bad as his attitude.

"Keith, you're a jerk!" Jounouchi huffed at the American. "Get your dirty feet off the table!"

"Ah?" Keith acted like he couldn't hear Jounouchi at all. "What? You, the amateur, really want to duel against me? Duel with me? Bandit Keith?"

"Seeing the bottom of your boots just reminds me of your dirty tricks… I'll never forgive what you did to my friends in that cave! You're the kind of guy who steps on dog poop!"

Bandit Keith didn't seem to be disheartened at the words, only chuckling at them.

"Jounouchi, if you lick the sole of my boots, I'll admit defeat!"

"I'll freeze him first." I muttered angrily. Bandit Keith was starting to wear on my last nerve. Yami, unfortunately, held me back with a light grip of my wrist.

Jounouchi had no such filter.

"You're a jerk!"

"Bandit Keith!" Yami called into the room. "This table is a Duelist's battlefield! I won't let anyone insult it!"

Bandit Keith glanced over to Yami and gave another laugh.

"This certainly is a place of battles." He agreed. "But, does that guy have the right to stand here?"

Jounouchi flinched so profoundly I thought he would pounce at his opponent.

"What did you say?" He growled.

From out of his pocket, Bandit Keith pulled a card out. Even from my distance, I knew that it was the Glory of the King's left hand. It made no sense to me how Keith could have it; he wasn't even a real participant of the tournament, how could he own that card….? Unless….

"This is the semi-final certification card. If you don't have this, then you have no right to sit at the dueling table."

"Of course I have…." Jounouchi froze after he stuck his hand into his pocket.

He then searched his other pocket without making a single sound. What happened….? "What happened?! I remember putting it into my jacket pocket….!"

"You didn't lose it, did you?" Anzu asked him.

Jounouchi searched frantically through his jacket but he came up empty. I glared lightly at Bandit Keith as he began to laugh.

"If you lose the card, you can't duel then!" Bandit Keith looked to the nearby Croquet. "Is it like that?"

Croquet nodded his head.

"People with no certification card will lose the right to duel!" Croquet agreed.

Jounouchi whirled around to confront Croquet quickly,

"You wait a minute!" Jounouchi shouted. "I do have the certification card!"

I noticed the small beads of sweat beginning to appear on Jounouchi's skin. Bandit Keith laughed again.

"Jounouchi, you have lost your spot!" Bandit Keith laughed.

I gave him another dirty glare but quickly turned to Jounouchi.

"Maybe you dropped it somewhere?" I suggested. "Your room?"

"That's the only thing I can think of!" Jounouchi agreed. "Probably fell out when I was putting on my jacket this morning."

Jounouchi began to run toward the door. "You three stay here! I'll go to my room and get the card!"

Before Jounouchi even got a number of steps away from us, Croquet called out.

"There's only five minutes left!" He simply told Jounouchi, who looked back with a slightly panicked look on his face. "If you don't show me your certification card within five minutes, you will lose your place in the semi-finals!"

Five minutes?! That was hardly enough time to get back to his room and back! Jounouchi raced out of the room at a faster pace without a second thought. Anzu tried to confront the butler about it but nobody listened to her.

Time seemed to go so slowly. Three minutes felt like five and I could tell that Bandit Keith was getting antsy as well, asking about the time before chuckling again.

"He's already lost his spot." He laughed out. "Jounouchi won't come back."

"What do you mean by that?" I retorted at him.

Bandit Keith glanced over at me.

"That guy is so weak at the area of Duel Monsters, doll. Even though he's stupid, he should kow that there's no way he could win against me, so he would think of all possible ways to escape from the battle against me. Now he finally found a reason not to duel. Maybe he's already escaped off the island."

Yami flinched at the words. I didn't like the jab at me by calling me 'doll' and I considered freezing him to his chair. Though, I would let Jounouchi handle him. I kept quiet, a simple glare as my response, and didn't hold Yami back from barking at the former American champ.

"Bandit Keith…" He hissed out. "Jounouchi isn't the type to escape and hide. He'll definitely come back! Then... He will duel against you!"

Bandit Keith gave another smile as Croquet announced that there was only a minute left before Jounouchi was disqualified. It was barely even a minute before the door slammed open and Jounouchi appeared.

"Jounouchi!" Yami and Anzu cried out.

"Did you find it?!"I gasped to him.

Jounouchi kept a determined face as he stomped into the room, holding out a card to Croquet. The blond was panting having run the whole way from here to his room and back.

"Look carefully!" He demanded. "This is the card. You don't have anything to say, right?"

Bandit Keith's face paled considerably at the sight of the card in Jounouchi's hand; it was almost like he was surprised that Jounouchi had come across it.

Croquet allowed Jounouchi up to the table and the blond gave a harsh glare. "Take your dirty feet off the table! Jerk!"

"Che!" Bandit Keith huffed in reply. "Looks like I'll have to battle against you. But… at your seat: Hell is waiting for you."

As I figured, Jounouchi wasn't scared of those words.

"Then let me defeat you in Hell!"

Jounouchi settled himself at the table and prepared their decks. I clenched my fists over the jacket in my hands, hoping that no one could see my nervousness.

"The second semi-final round: Bandit Keith versus Jounouchi Katsuya!" Croquet announced as the two duelists shuffled their decks.

"Duel!" They both cried as they drew their first hand of cards.

Bandit Keith used Machine cards, which had nasty effects. Jounouchi figured that out the hard way when he attacked with a magic using Giltia the Dark Knight and nothing happened.

"My machine deck monsters are equipped with fullmetal anti-magic armor!" Keith laughed. "Magic attacks won't do shit to them!"

I would have called 'bull shit' as that excuse really couldn't be used later in time but I didn't say anything.

Keith continued with his turn and summoned a normal dark monster called 'Zoa'. It struck me as slightly strange why Keith would have it in his deck. Next to me, Yami stiffened as he realized something. I didn't have time to glance at him so I kept my eyes on Jounouchi as he summoned Flame Swordsman and attacked. Oh no!

Bandit Keith did have a trap to protect his Zoa and I understood why Yami flinched when it was summoned. Metalmorph transformed Zoa into a machine type monster and powerful enough to defeat Jounouchi's Flame Swordsman. It didn't end there. Keith then played 'Stop Defense'and was able to destroy the now in attack position Axe Raider. If the attack went through, Jounouchi would lose the duel!

If I was standing next to Jounouchi after he played his next card, I would have strangled him. Chasm of Spikes was able to ensnare and destroy the Metal Zoa.

"That was great!" Anzu cheered out. "Jounouchi's holding his own against the Ex- U.S Champion!"

"Card games have a rhythm…" Yami seemed to be saying to himself. "An ebb and flow. Those who can direct that flow are the ones who win!"

I gave a laugh despite of the circumstances.

"Leave it to Yugi to get philosophical on us." I giggled out.

I was quickly elbowed in the side. I made a very dramatic gasp of pain and looked to my brunette friend. "I've been wounded, Anzu!"

"I think you deserved it, though." My friend admitted with a smile.

"Did I? Ah…." I giggled again before looking back to the duel.

Jounouchi had continued with his turn and Bandit Keith quickly summoned a monster that attacked Jounouchi's Garoozis. To Keith's dismay, Jounouchi had another trap card and I rolled my eyes. With the many times my friend and I played a Yu-Gi-Oh game in my world, this card was the complete bane of my existence. Thankfully it was being used for a good reason.

(I watch Cubi Studios on Youtube play Millennium Duels and he absolutely loses it when Joey plays Kunai with Chain and I relate to that. This is the reason why Christine acts this way when Kunai with Chain is played.)

Keith's lifepoints dropped to 1100, only 50 points lower than Jounouchi. He could still win this duel!

Though, I couldn't help but glance up at Pegasus then. I couldn't see hm clearly but he was staring quite intently at the two duelists below him. What was he doing way up there?

I looked back to the duel when Bandit Keith began to laugh.

"What're you laughing about?!" Jounouchi barked in question.

"Kid…" Keith began slowly. "Have you ever risked your life before?"

Jounouchi seemed confused until Keith began to speak again. "I'm asking you… Have you ever seen Hell? You don't care who you have to kill, as long as you save your own skin. That's what Hell is! This 'Duelist Kingdom' is the same thing! There's only one way out of my hell… And it's right through Pegasus! I'll do anything to get there!"

Jounouchi only gave a smile.

"Then I'll kick you back down into Hell!" He replied. "Get ready, Keith!"

It would be a little while coming until that happened as Bandit Keith summoned one of his strongest monsters, Barrel Dragon. It had a nasty effect that made it much like a Russian roulette machine. If any of the barrels oriented correctly, Bandit Keith could destroy up to three of Jounouchi's monsters! We all watched as the barrels spun wildly until two of the three guns were able to shoot at Jounouchi's monsters, pretty much leaving him defenseless.

Jounouchi was quick to counter with his own gamble, summoning the Time Wizard. Also summoning Baby Dragon so that he had a monster that would easily crush the weakend Barrel Dragon.

I was tired of gambling by the time Time Wizard's wand stopped on a time machine. Baby Dragon had transformed into Thousand Dragon but there was soon something else that took shape. After Jounouchi attacked, Keith activated a Trap card, bringing back his Barrel Dragon with maximum points.

"When one of my monsters gets killed, this Trap Card can bring it back from a turn ago!" Keith explained while laughing. "In other words, the worn out Barrel Dragon becomes a decoy and the original Barrel Dragon come from the past to kick Thousand Dragon's ass! And it's not weakened any more because I went back in time before the Time Roulette!"

Jounouchi's combo was a complete bust then… As much as I hated to say it, Keith was a pretty impressive opponent. Though his attitude could use some work as he continued to pester Jounouchi as he blasted most of his monsters straight to the graveyard. Keith played more machine monsters in defense mode to build his defenses up.

My blond friend smiled as he pulled his next card, setting it facedown, before summoning Red Eyes Black Dragon. Jounouchi smiled when Bandit Keith attacked.

"I've been waiting for this!" Jounouchi laughed out. "Check out my face down card!"

Jounouchi picked up the card with a bright smile on his face. "Copycat! I'm gonna copy one of your cards! And I choose Metalmorph!"

The card quickly took effect and Red-Eyes went through the same treatment that the Zoa did a few turns ago. Its attack increased to 2800, enough to destroy the Barrel Dragon. The dark blast blew the machine into scraps as Keith gave a growl in the back of his throat.

"You…. Copying my Metalmorph to power up your Red-Eyes Black Dragon…" Keith growled out before he took his turn, which only consisted of him keeping his Slot Machine monster in defense mode and putting a card face down.

Of course, Jounouchi attacked and Bandit Keith activated the face down card. Seven Completed was a completely annoying card, especially when it was suddenly activated like this. It seemed strange to me that Keith also had another one in his hand when it came back to his turn, wouldn't he have played it a while back? I couldn't think about that long as Keith then played Blast Sphere and had it attached to Red-Eyes. If Jounouchi didn't do something quick, his only chance for victory would be gone!

Just after Jounouchi drew his next card, a large explosion rocked the table. I jumped but said nothing, staring intently at the smoke that covered the field. I smiled when Red-Eyes was still on the field and with a nice new attachment to his claws. Jounouchi had drawn Dragon Nails and it saved him a good hundred lifepoints or so.

Bandit Keith somehow pulled another Seven Completed and increased his Slot Machine's attack points up to the same level as Red-Eyes.

"You better not be thinking you can still beat me…" Keith taunted.

Jounouchi simply gave him a dark look, not giving Bandit Keith the satisfaction of making him mad. "'Cause if you are, I'll open your eyes with this! Pillager!"

Oh boy… Bandit Keith could now look at Jounouchi's hand and take whatever card he wanted! Hopefully he didn't…. He did…. Bandit Keith took the Sword and Shield magic card and I immediately paled. Slot Machine's attack became 3000 while Red-Eyes' became 2400. The American was quick to call an attack but I noticed Jounouchi flip a card over before the explosion hit.

When the smoke cleared once more, a time machine was floating overhead, making Anzu and I both cheer wildly. Bandit Keith's Time Machine went back in time to get the Red-Eyes that was at full strength. There was a single attack and it was all over.

"And the winner is… Katsuya Jounouchi!" Croquet announced and everything went wild.

The three of us all ran over to Jounouchi as he jumped to his feet in celebration. Bandit Keith remained in his seat, looking utterly furious.

"I did it, you jerk!" He exclaimed. "I won!"

We reached his spot and the blond turned to us with a large smile. He then gave us a large group hug, though we were all separated enough so that Jounouchi didn't need to whisper to not hurt our ears. "Thanks… I couldn't have won without you guys…"

Anzu and I both beamed while Yami's expression remained stalwart but caring.

"No, Jounouchi." He corrected. "You had the courage of a duelist. You fought alone and were victorious!"

"Yeah!" Anzu cheered. "You won without any help from anybody! You can be proud of it!"

I was pretty sure that he had help from someone, namely a blonde busty woman who cared even though she said she didn't, but I didn't say anything. I beamed again but Jounouchi didn't smile in response. He turned back to Yami.

"Sorry… Yugi." He began. "I know I'm not out of Duelist Kingdom yet but for me, that felt like the final battle…"

That was definitely a problem.

"But you guys are both in the finals." I spoke up. "You two will need to duel to see who can go to Pegasus!"

"That won't be necessary." Yami intoned.

"And why is that?"

"Our objective was to beat Pegasus! Now that we've come this far, he's finally within our sights. If Jounouchi and I fought in front of him, we'd only expose more of our tactics."

That made sense… I nodded to his words and watched Yami turn back to the blond. "Jounouchi! Will you leave the rest to me?" Jounouchi seemed conflicted for a moment. Pegasus must have been having a field day with all the thoughts running between us.

"Yugi…" Jounouchi sighed out. "I know you're the only person who has a chance of beating Pegasus. I knew that even before we came to this island… But still! Can I really weigh you down with my baggage? You're already fighting for yourself and your grandpa! Do you really want to fight for me?"

"Of course!" Yami replied immediately. "I'll win because I fight for you! Just like you fought for your sister…"

Jounouchi only hesistated for a moment before pulling The Honor of the King's Right card out of his pocket and handed it to Yami. The spirit took it and held it up towards Pegasus, whose eyes narrowed slightly.

Pegasus stood, spoke to one of his employees, and then talked down to us.

"Very well, Yugi-boy!" He cheerfully cried out. "Let the final battle of the Kingdom begin!"

Pegasus had promptly walked away and we were all escorted to the other part of the castle where Pegasus and Kaiba had dueled yesterday. My mind was finally able to wander elsewhere, far away from the duel arena. Were Honda and Bakura ok? They hadn't shown up the entirety of the morning and I was beginning to get worried about them. It also wandered to Bandit Keith, where had he gone? I then remembered his fate from reading the manga with my friend, blasting his own brains out via Penalty Game. I knew it had happened also from the twinge in my stomach as we were walking. I forced myself to keep walking so that no one noticed the discomfort; I didn't want to take people's minds off what was coming.

We stopped at the door leading in and waited with Yami as he searched through his cards. I peeked over his shoulder to see the familiar monsters be looked through.

"Good, my cards are in order." He was saying aloud.

Yami then pulled out the camcorder with Grandpa's soul inside and the old man was quick to give him advice. I didn't interfere, this was his conversation. My ears instead caught onto footsteps running towards us and voices calling our names.

"Yugi!" One cried out.

"Jounouchi!" Another cried.

We all turned around and I was ecstatic to see Honda and Bakura rushing towards us. They were smiling which calmed me down but they didn't have either Kaiba or Mokuba. "All right, Yugi!" Honda exclaimed. "You made it!"

Jounouchi huffed and got right into Honda's face, which his friend didn't seem to like at all.

"Where the heck were you guys?!" Jounouchi growled out.

Honda pushed him away and spoke with a similar huff.

"We spent all night looking for Mokuba. He's resting in one of the rooms. Seems like Kaiba's locked up in a different tower so we couldn't rescue him…"

Honda's face became painfully serious. "Yugi… Mokuba's soul was sucked out… Only you can save him and his brother…"

"Well if that doesn't put stress on a guy, then I don't know what will." I huffed out to which Honda gave a dirty look.

"Beat him for Mokuba, Yugi! Kill him!" Bakura exclaimed out in a very uncharacteristic fashion.

Honda broke his dirty look with me to give a confused look to Bakura. Something did seem odd with him, I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"Well, I know you can do it, Yugi!" Honda once again turned to his friend.

Yami nodded and Croquet's voice suddenly pierced the air, breaking the conversation.

"It's time." He announced. "Will Yugi Motou please step forward and take a seat at the Dueling stage!"

Yami nodded and walked silently up to the Dueling platform. All of us called out encouragements and watched as it began to rise up to the level where Pegasus would get on.

It was finally time. Let's get this over with and go home.

 **I hope to not be as bad with the next update. My summer class goes until the 21st of June so I should have a bit more writing time then.**

 **Thanks for your understanding and reading!**

 **RobynHood3**


	15. Duel of the Millennium Part 1

**Sorry about the small delay. Craziness as usual ensued and my writing schedule has been blown to smithereens... Sigh... Anyway, I'm here now with a new chapter!**

 ***I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! (Though I do own a copy of the new movie XD) or any other thing I mention in this chapter. I only own Christine***

One would think voices would carry down to where we were but alas, they did not. It was amazing how in the manga the gang could hear every word being said but I was catching none of the words. Luckily, Jounouchi had a brilliant idea.

"We can't see from here!" He exclaimed suddenly. "Let's go upstairs!"

Nobody argued as we turned tail and dashed to the stairs that would lead to the balcony above us. Bakura ran to be in between Jounouchi and myself.

"Will Yugi be all right?" He asked. "He's up against the power of the Millennium Eye that can read minds…!"

"Don't be stupid! Yugi's not gonna lose! He'll be the real King of this island after he kicks Pegasus' butt!"

Though it wouldn't be easy, that I was sure of.

We eventually reached the balcony and words reached my ears much easier, they were saying things at the moment. Both duelists were seated at the table, glaring daggers at the other. Croquet walked over to Yami and held out his hand.

"Yugi…" He began. "Please present the two cards that prove your right to challenge the King."

Yami picked them up and held them out to Croquet.

"The Honor of the King's Right and the Honor of the King's Left." He replied.

Croquet took them with a word of thanks before speaking again.

"In the event that Yugi defeats the current King, Mr. Pegasus, you will be given a prize in exchange for the Honor of the King's Right card. Mr. Pegasus, is that clear?"

"Yes, of course!" Pegasus chirped back.

Pegasus was handed the cards and with a smile, held up one of them. "And the other card… The Honor of the King's Left… There is no picture on that card. Do you know why, Yugi-boy?"

"I do." Yami replied back with his own smile. "A picture will emerge when I lose to you. In other words, my soul will be sealed in that card, right?"

"Just right! Your courage is amazing! You stepped up to fight me, knowing what awaits…"

"What the-?!" Honda exclaimed.

"If Yugi loses, he'll end up like Kaiba!" Jounouchi exclaimed as well.

"He challenged Pegasus knowing that!" Anzu breathed out.

I kept my eyes on Yami and my mouth firmly closed. I didn't want to say anything, my fists clenched on the railing. If I did, I'm sure it would have been incoherent babble about cursing something or someone and that would not have been appropriate.

"Heh…" Yami surprisingly had the nerve to laugh at a time like this. "But Pegasus, I don't intend to become a part of your card collection!"

Pegasus grew a smirk but said nothing. It was silent for a moment before Croquet officially started the duel.

Yami placed a card facedown and Beaver Warrior in defense mode. He then looked over to Pegasus and even without a Millennium Eye, I figured I knew what he was thinking. Did Pegasus see everything in his hand and on the field? Pegasus gave a smile. He also set a card face down and summoned Red-Archery girl in defense mode.

Yami's face down card was Horn of the Unicorn and he immediately equipped it to Beaver Warrior and attacked. Though Pegasus conveniently saw the whole thing coming and activated his trap card. Beaver Warrior was suddenly pulled into a giant water bubble and lost the gained attack points. Pegasus then, with the weakened monster helpless, ordered the mermaid to attack. Yami was now down 200 lifepoints.

"I-It's as if he knew what Yugi's card was going to be!" Anzu gasped out.

"Did his magic eye do it?!" Jounouchi asked.

'No shit, Sherlock.' My traitorous mind immediately thought up but I shot down the anger to continued glaring down at the field.

"Well, Yugi-boy…" Pegasus was now teasing Yami. "Looks like you wasted a turn, doesn't it? There are many varables in this game: which cards to choose, when to attack. The road to defeat is lined with a great number of little mistakes, one after the other… Let me say one thing: I never make mistakes."

I huffed at the words, sure he didn't. Yami didn't either based on the growl that came from his lips. He ended up playing Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode and ending his turn.

"Look out, Yugi!" Anzu cried down to the table.

"Shit!" Honda cursed. "Pegasus is already on the offensive!"

Jounouchi seemed as mad as Yami and I. His face contorted in rage as he glared.

"That lousy Pegasus…" He growled out. "saying he never makes mistakes! Who does he think he is? God or something?"

"He's not quite God…" Bakura replied softly. "But there's no mistaking he's at least the creator of Duel Monsters. He created the cards. Of course he's a master. He can even read the minds of his opponents with his Millennium Eye…"

Jounouchi turned on Bakura, settling his glare on our friend instead.

"Bakura?! Are you tryin' to say that Yugi can't win?!"

Bakura jumped back.

"No… That's not it but… At least, if I was in Yugi's shoes… I couldn't think of any way to win."

"Hmph!" Jounouchi huffed. "Just you watch! Yugi has a Millennium Item too! The Millennium Puzzle! It won't lose to some dumb eye!"

I figured jumping to Bakura's aid but the exchange was done quickly and all eyes were back on the duel.

"There's only one thing we can do now…" Honda breathed out and I unfortunately agreed.

We simply had to pray for the best.

Pegasus laid a card face down and summoned Ryu-Ran in defense mode, also switching his mermaid to defense mode before ending his turn. Yami picked his next card but stopped in his tracks, glancing behind him. It was like he noticed someone looking at his cards…. I glared at Pegasus, the peek. He was probably looking at Yami's cards and determining his strategies.

Yami took his turn, setting a card face down and playing Summoned Skull in defense mode. My mood brightened. One of my favorite monsters could turn possibly turn the tide of the duel in our favor! Pegasus, on his turn once more, set a card face down and moved his Ryu-Ran into attack mode. His target was Summoned Skull and I saw the small smile on Yami's face.

"Trap card! Spell-Binding Circle!" He cried out. "It blocks your attack and hobbles your monster!"

The large purple pentagram circled the dragon, lowering its attack points by 700, making it a big target for Summoned Skull.

"Oh no!" Pegasus cried out dramatically. "Whatever shall I do?!"

On Yami's turn, he moved Summoned Skull into attack mode and went to attack the dragon. Pegasus knew it was coming and activated his own trap card. It moved the Spell-Binding circle over to Summoned Skull and it was easily destroyed, lowering Yami's lifepoints even more.

In a petty fit, I slammed my fist against the railing. I was getting annoyed of this and fast!

"Oh no! Yugi!" Anzu gasped.

"Awww, man!" Honda growled. "He knew what Yugi was going do again!"

"That's not fair!" Jounouchi growled out as well. "How's Yugi supposed to fight him?!"

Bakura kept quiet for an extra second before saying the scared thought at the edge of my mind.

"Not even Yugi can stand up to Pegasus' powers…" He breathed out.

"What are you saying?!" Anzu, in a show of defiance, barked out. "We can't be in give-up mode!"

"Anzu's right!" I finally spoke up, nodding my head.

"Yugi'd never give up!" Jounouchi agreed as well. "Never!"

I trained my eyes and ears back down to the duel, hearing Pegasus tease Yami that he couldn't be beaten. To prove this, the next card he played was Toon World. Great, now things were about to get much harder.

All of Pegasus' monsters were sucked into the storybook then popped back out as their Toon forms. It was terrifying to see their great big smiles staring blankly at Yami. Ryu-Ran, whom Pegasus now called 'Manga Ryu-Ran', attacked and the Giant Soldier of Stone was demolished quickly.

"After each attack, my Toon monsters hide themselves in Toon World…" Pegasus explained with a chuckle. "A world where **your** monsters cannot go…"

This was the exact way Pegasus beat Kaiba yesterday! Yugi needed to find a way to beat them and soon!

Yami attempted to attack with Celtic Guardian but the stupid clam blocked the attack. I lost my temper then.

"That is such bullshit!" I huffed out. "It shouldn't be able to do that!"

Pegasus, like he heard my complaint, chuckled and looked up at me.

"Toons are very malleable. Their bodies can stretch like rubber and easily dodge or parry Celtic Guardian."

I huffed again, glaring harshly at the creator down below. Pegasus didn't seem to mind the angry thoughts I sent his way and looked back to Yami. The mermaid inside the clam attacked and destroyed elf warrior. I would have called bullshit again, as they would have destroyed each other, but remembered that only Toons can defeat Toons. With a bright smile, Pegasus ended his turn with two face down cards.

This duel was getting repetitive, especially with Yami's monsters getting creamed over and over again. My attention was grabbed once more when I heard the name Summoned Skull and my eyes moved to the glowing Toon World Book. My blood went cold when a Toonified version of my favorite monster popped out of the accursed book.

"What….?" I gasped out. "What has he….?"

Jounouchi settled a hand on my shoulder as I allowed myself to freeze a portion of the railing that I was now clenching. I had to watch as my favorite monster attacked Yami, lowering his lifepoints to a measly 900 points.

If only that flamboyant freakshow were right next to me…. Oh ho… He'd get it.

"Yugi's own monster turned into a Toon and attacked him…" Anzu breathed out.

"That lousy traitor!" Jounouchi growled out. "Isn't there anyway to beat those Toons?!"

I glanced over to my friends before looking back to the Duel to see that Pegasus was grinning at Yami, who had just pulled his next card. I didn't like listening to Pegasus' taunting but his final words leeched into my mind.

"I can sense your will to fight ebbing… dwindling." Pegasus was saying. "Well, Yugi-boy? Do you wish to forfeit the duel?"

All of us on the balcony froze and began to shout at once.

"Yugi, don't give up!" Honda shouted. "You know what'll happen if you admit defeat!"

"He'll put your soul in a card!" Jounouchi wasn't being helpful when he called out the answer.

"Jounouchi!" Anzu huffed, elbowing him.

"It's the truth, though!"

I popped up to lean on the railing and call down to the table.

"What about Mokuba, Kaiba and Grandpa?" I called. "If you don't win, they'll be trapped forever! Don't give up!"

Yami's determination returned and he summoned the Dark Magician and to combo, played Magical Hats to hide it. He was trying to confuse Pegasus and break his mind reading. I made sure to listen to every word said.

"I see…" Pegasus grinned. "You hid the Magician in one of the Magical Hats… No doubt this is a way to buy time until you find a way to confront Toon World. But it's just as useless." Pegasus gave a light chuckle then. "Yugi-boy… you **chose** which hat the Dark Magician is hidden under. In you mind, you know which hat is correct…. So I know too."

"No!" I shouted out.

Summoned Skull popped out of Toon World and sent a large lightning bolt toward the far left hat. A shiver ran up my spine just as it connected but I had no clue as to what it meant. I clutched tighty at the railing until the smoke cleared and was surprised at the lack of Dark Magician ashes. A new voice broke through my thoughts.

"I changed where the Dark Magician was hiding by my own will…." Yugi's child-like face was there instead of Yami's. "Seems like you couldn't read my mind!"

"Yugi!" Jounouchi and Anzu both cried out.

I thought about it for a second and it made sense. Yugi, from inside their body, must have called out to his other self and they both came up with a plan.

Yugi made his move but was quick to tempt Pegasus into reading his mind. The shiver ran up my spine once more and I knew the switch was coming. Pegasus did try and it was enjoyable to see his enraged face at being blocked.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't know what that card is…" Yami teased as he took over once more, sending another shiver up my spine. "It's pointless to read my mind, Pegasus!"

Pegasus gave a gasp of surprise, a glare starting to appear on his face, and Yami continued. "Pegasus, it seems like it takes some time for you to read your opponent's mind with your eye…. I switched minds while you were scanning! That's the way to beat your Millennium Eye: Mind Shuffle!"

"I get it!" Honda exclaimed. "Yugi has two minds, a front and a back! Even if Pegasus reads one of them, he can switch minds so the other one can fight!"

"A two-Yugi tag team!" Jounouchi cheered.

I allowed myself to exhale loudly, my head falling into my hand. It was probably barely past noon or so and I was already exhausted. It probably didn't help that there was no sleep to be had last night.

"Those little twits…. Giving me a freaking heart attack." I breathed out a relieved sigh, along with a chuckle, before looking back to the duel. "Brilliant, though."

Yami kept in control, as he now didn't know where the Dark Magician was, to taunt Pegasus into using his next turn trying to attack another hat.

"Pegasus…" Yami spoke up again, possibly taunting again. "As the creator of Duel Monsters, I'm sure you're aware, every game has a winer and a loser. What separates the two? I'll tell you. The good judgement needed to know the rules and assess the situations… and the insticts to decide when and how to act. Whoever has those two things, wins. Judgement comes from experience and confidence… Instincts requires even more confidence. You've reliedon the Millennium Eye for **too long**. You've grown smug, arrogant… You've lost the instincts of a Duelist!"

Pegasus didn't like those words as he growled lightly before snapping his reply.

"What?!"

Even from way up here, I could see the bright smirk on Yami's face.

"When it comes to real confidence, my partner is ten times better than you!"

Pegasus' glare became even harsher and another shiver ran up my spine as Yami relinquished control to Yugi to make his turn. The boy placed a card facedown and I made a light huff at the next shiver as Yami appeared once more.

"That's gonna get annoying fast." I muttered.

"What is?" Jounouchi asked, having heard my mutter.

"The shiver up my spine." I replied in another mutter.

"Shiver?" Bakura looked over to the two of us. "What are you talking about?"

"Every time those two switch, a shiver runs up my spine." I explained, turning my head to give them a deadpan expression. "So with them switching every other turn, my nerves are gonna be shot!"

Bakura and Jounouchi both glanced at each other then looked back to the Duel. I followed their gaze back to the table to see a smile beginning to form on Pegasus' face once more. I narrowed my eyes. What was he smiling about?

"My card is Magic Neutralizing Force!" Pegasus exclaimed as he set the card on the field. "This card wipes all of the opponent's magic! Your Magical Hats are no more."

That's not good…..

As the hats faded away, the Dark Magician was able to be seen. Yami narrowed his eyes at Pegasus as the man chuckled lightly. "Now do you understand, Yugi-boy? Skilled Duelists do not need instincts. They use their brains to win without taking risks…"

The Toon World book opened up and the Toonified version of my favorite monster popped out, shooting a large bolt of lightning out toward Dark Magician.

Just before the attack hit, another shiver ran up my spine and Yugi appeared once more.

"Now!" He cried, flipping over one of the facedown cards. "I play my facedown card: Living Arrow!"

"Yes!" I cheered.

Yugi didn't even seem to notice that Pegasus was panicking, keeping his head level and eyes determined.

"You didn't notice, did you, Pegasus? While I was drawing cards, the other me was trying to provoke you! And once you got frustrated, you played a card that dispelled my Magical Hats! But that was just what we wanted! Because Living Arrow lets me transfer Magic effects from me to you!"

The arrow shot off toward Toon World, glowing brightly. "We're using the arrow to give back your Magic Neutralizing Force!"

Pegasus didn't stop smiling though.

"But it's too late!" He exclaimed. "You can't stop the Toon Demon's attack!"

Pegasus wasn't wrong. Despite the arrow, the lightning attack was still heading for the Dark Magician. "Your Mage is dead!" Yugi lifted his other facedown card and I cheered once more.

"Sorry to spoil your plan… but I played this card facedown too!"

Mirror Force was a fabulous card, one of my favorites; it wasn't my favorite though when it was played against me. I bet Pegasus wasn't enjoying this moment either.

The trap shot the Lighning attack right back to the dissipaited Toon World, electrocuting all of the Toons. When the smoke cleared, Pegasus' field was empty except for some scorch marks. Doing the math quickly, I found that Pegasus' lifepoints had dropped to 800 points. Yami and Yugi was in the lead for right now.

All of us on the balcony cheered wildly, shouting our enthusiasm down to our friend. Bakura soon became awfully quiet as he stared down at the table. Pegasus was smiling again.

"Wonderful!" He cheered. "No wonder you possess a Millennium Item. I looks like I played around too much… I guess now I must duel you with the power and respect you deserve."

I raised an eyebrow at the words. That was playing around? He beat Kaiba, who was not a joke of a Duelist, in only a matter of turns and he considered it something fun?

I saw a golden flash from Millennium eye and knew something was wrong. "Yugi-boy… From here on, it isn't just a battle between Duelists… It's a battle between those who have been chose by the Millennium Items. From here on, it's a Shadow Game."

That was a word I haven't heard in a long time. It sent a shiver through me and my body began to shake slightly as magic began to coalesce around the table. I haven't felt like this since the first time I entered Yami's mind when Shadi was a problem. I fought to keep myself standing, gripping onto the railing separating me from the table.

Pegasus explained where he got the idea of Duel Monsters from ancient Egyptian stone tablets that depicted monsters. He said that sorcerers had the power to summon them in the Pharaoh's court. The legends had been passed down through an ancient scrolls, eventually inspiring Tarot Cards. "I created Duel Monsters to bring this ancient game to modern times and now that we each face a worthy opponent, I may be able to recreate the ancient battles at last!"

The monster on the board began to fade away but Yugi and Pegasus remained. This was way different than how it was in the show from what I remembered; but somehow, it made the situation even scarier.

Even from my height, I could see the discomfort and pain begin to form on Yugi's face. Yami took over, looking as determined as ever.

I didn't care enough about their words right now, I kept my eyes on the spikey haired boys down below. Each time Yugi took control, his face became paler and paler. The Shadow Realm was taking everything from him. Yami, finish this fast, please!

Suddenly, there seemed to be a rip in my stomach as Pegasus called an attack to destroy Yugi's Feral Imp. Yugi collapsed, his arms catching the brunt of the fall onto the table.

He didn't get up.

 **Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter! I do so love cliffhangers, even though I hate reading them myself. XD**

 **See you all in the next chapter!**

 **RobynHood3**


	16. Duel of the Millennium Part 2

**Hey guys! Sorry about that cliff hanger! I hate it when they happen to me but I love making them for my readers. XD**

 **One of the last sections of this chapter was something that I wrote over a year ago so it was very strange for me to see it actually in the document. It warms my heart and I'm happy to share it with you all. I have written one last chapter, the Virtual Arc from the television show, and will put that up when I get home from my grandmother's house. Jet lag... bleg...**

 ***I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any references that I may have in this chapter. I only own Christine, my OC.***

"No!" I screamed, clenching onto the railing as tight as I could, not caring that it was still slightly frozen. "Yugi, get up!"

The entire gang screamed down to the table, calling for our friend to sit up, finish the duel. But there was no movement from Yugi down below. "Please, no…. No…."

Jounouchi wrapped an arm around my shoulder in comfort as a tear slid down my cheeks. He had to get up… He had to….

"It looks like the 'Other' Yugi, that useless roommate you share your body with, couldn't survive the Shadow Game." Pegasus seemed awfully amused with his words while I snapped in anger.

"He's not useless!" I screamed suddenly, not knowing and not caring if Pegasus could hear me or not. "The only one who's useless here is you, you psychopath!"

Pegasus glanced up to me, he apparently did hear me, the smirk still on his face. There was a sort shuffling in my head and I huffed. "Stay out of my head!"

"And why should I, dear?" Pegasus asked, his voice sweet. "It's not like you can stop me."

Boy did I try to. I played random memories back, hoping to distract him: Jounouchi falling out of a tree trying to be heroic, Bakura and all of us playing board games and Yugi creaming all of us in a matter of rounds, Anzu, Miho and I shopping before New Years last year. Any memory that had nothing to do with what was going on or who I was. It didn't seem to work as Pegasus gave a coy chuckle. "Ahhh… So you and the Other Yugi, hmm? Didn't expect a twist like that…. And what is this?" Pegasus laughed again. "A little witch, hmm? I've met some in my travels but never thought Yugi-boy would get one for a girlfriend."

"Shut up, you creep!" I snapped back, clenching onto the railing even tighter and feeling it continue to freeze in my grasp.

Pegasus only laughed more. Everyone but Anzu looked at me strangely with that last sentence but with a huff from Anzu, they looked away. I would leave it to her to explain later, I was in no mood for talking.

"It's a sad thing indeed, my dear. His soul is dead…."

Jounouchi flinched beside me. His arm around me becoming stiff.

"Yugi's soul is dead?!" He gasped.

The blonde then began shake from anger. "You better shut your mouth, Pegasus!" He eventually erupted, shouting down to the table. I snaked an arm around his waist to try and settle him. Honda was cursing himself from down the way, berating himself that we couldn't do anything to protect Yugi. I agreed with Honda's words; all we could do was watch from the sidelines as our friend dueled a madman.

I couldn't hold onto Jounouchi long as a shiver ran up my spine. I had to think about what it could be for a moment before it hit me in the form of Anzu pointing and shouting.

"Look!" She cried.

We all turned to see Yami, now the only one in the body, sitting up, a glare painted on his face.

"Pegasus…." He hissed. "I will never forgive you!"

The creator laughed again.

"But… now that your other soul is gone, you can't do your 'Mind Shuffle' anymore." Pegasus told him. "Do you still intend to keep dueling?"

"There's no 'Game Over' as long as my heart still beats!"

He was going to keep going, but… How was he going to fight back against the Pegasus' mind reading?

"Yugi…" Anzu breathed out. "The other Yugi isn't dead yet!"

"But Pegasus said his soul died… right?" Honda asked, leaning over to speak.

"Not quite…" I replied. "If one lives, the other lives as well."

"Then that means…" Jounouchi's face finally was becoming a smile again. "Yugi's other soul is alive!"

"But it might be on the verge of dying…" Anzu brought up, forcing Jounouchi's smile away.

"Agh! Can't we help him somehow?!"

I couldn't think of anything. I turned back to look down at the duel but I was suddenly pulled back into the conversation, literally.

Anzu grabbed my shoulders, a bright gleam in her eyes, and began to speak rapidly.

"Christine, I just got the most marvelous idea!"

"What…?" I gasped out but didn't manage more than that before Anzu went on a roll again.

"You've been to Yugi's mind, right? During the Shadi incident."

"Yeah, so?"

"Could you get us there?"

I blinked. What on earth….? Everyone else was beginning to also look strangely at Anzu. She kept her eyes on me.

"Where did this idea come from?"

"If you could get us there, we could protect the Other Yugi's mind from the inside!"

It was indeed brilliant but how on earth would I manage to get all of us into Yugi's head? I had only gotten there before due to the Millennium Key and that was who knows where with Shadi. I was going to ask that question when it dawned on me. Before we left for Duelist Kingdom, I saw that Anzu had managed to convince Yugi to hold onto the crystal I had made for him and the gang the night we were all attacked by Lycaon and his pack of wolves. I remembered telling the gang after we had gotten back to the game shop that night that I had a faint connection to those crystals; and if they went off, I could find out where they were to gather a battalion of back up. I blinked, wide eyed, at Anzu and she smiled wildly. "I knew having him hold onto that thing would be useful!" My smile's wideness joined hers.

"Do you think he has it on him?" I asked.

"Most likely." Anzu nodded. "I made him promise to always have it in his pocket."

"Brilliant!" I breathed out. "Absolutely brilliant!"

"I'm so lost…" Jounouchi whispered to Honda.

"That makes both of us." Honda replied.

"Remember Christine's crystals that she made last year?" Anzu asked.

Both boys nodded while Bakura still looked confused. I made a mental note to make one for Bakura, maybe it could help him if the Spirit of the Millennium Ring came back. "Since Christine made those crystals, she has a connection to them. If we use Christine like a cellphone tower, we can get into Yugi's mind and protect him!" The idea finally transferred over and wide smiles covered everyone.

"Do it!" Jounouchi nodded to me.

I nodded back, holding out my hand. Everyone took it quickly.

"Hang on." I teased, closing my eyes and grasping the connection I had with Yugi's crystal.

It only took a few moments but I eventually found myself opening my eyes in a familiar hall. It was the hall that I had awoken in when Shadi had invaded that day in the museum. No one was around but I didn't feel alone. There were whispers in my head, telling me that Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu and Bakura had all made it with me. I would materialize them when I found Yugi. The hall shook suddenly and I knew that Pegasus had suddenly read Yami's head again.

I didn't have much time.

I bolted down the hall, desperately searching for Yugi's room of the mind. It all looked the same, brick on brick on brick on brick. "Couldn't Yugi and Yami have redecorated by now?" I groaned.

Finally, I found the doors to both of the rooms in Yugi's mind. Yami's was open, letting me see inside the cold, tomb like room. It was probably because he was in control. Yugi's was closed. I tried to pull open the door but it was locked shut. "Dang it!" I knocked loudly. "Yugi!" I cried. "Unlock the door!" Nothing. "Please!" Still nothing. I groaned lightly. "Fine, I'm calling the cavalry."

I closed my eyes, letting the whispers grow louder in my mind before giving them shape. I turned slightly to see the gang all there.

"He in there?" Jounouchi asked.

"Most likely." I replied, looking back to the door. "But it's locked tight! I can't get it open!"

Jounouchi and Honda pushed me aside and tried to push down the door. It didn't budge.

"Yug!" The blond cried. "Open the door!"

"Yugi, please!" Anzu cried as well.

The door still didn't move.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Bakura asked.

"I don't know." I replied softly.

We all stood there for a moment, looking at each other for any sign of comfort. There was nothing I could find. I contemplated jumping into Yami's mind, talking to him really fast. I shook that thought away quickly, I didn't want to bother him while he was dueling.

I leaned back onto the door, letting my forehead touch it slightly. "Please, Yugi. We need to stop Pegasus from reading your mind. Please let us in."

Suddenly, the door clicked. The gang and I all jumped; the rest turning to look at it while I had to gather my balance from the sudden movement, and saw that it had popped open. What had opened it, we weren't sure, but we weren't going to let it slide. Excitement ensued as we all jumped in as fast as we could.

The room was exactly the same as it was before. Toys littered every which way along with photos on the wall. I didn't look at them too closely, but I could faintly see Yugi and the Gang all there. I was in one picture and recognized it as the one that hung on the wall at home, one that Grandpa had taken while he was still in the hospital after Death-T.

Yugi was lying on the floor inside, his breathing so faint that it looked like nothing at all.

"Yugi!" We all cried and rushed over to the unconscious boy.

Anzu cradled him and she sighed with relief. The rest of us, Jounouchi, Honda, Bakura and I, stood to the side and watched for a moment.

"So what do we do now?" Honda asked.

"We make sure Pegasus doesn't get in." I replied darkly.

I turned on my heel and out of the room of the mind. I heard Jounouchi follow after me and into the hall separating Yugi and Yami's minds. "You take one side, I take the other?" Jounouchi nodded and we turned down our respective halls, eyes narrowed for a flamboyant game designer.

After only a few moments, the halls began to shake once more and heard Jounouchi growl slightly. I turned to see a ghostly form of Pegasus practically skipping down the halls of the mind. He opened his one eye to see the both of us and it immediately narrowed.

"What?!" He gasped out. "What is this?! Why am I here?! Where is that card?"

Jounouchi took a threatening step toward Pegasus.

"Don't you even think of getting into Yugi's mind!" He growled. "Get outta here, you trespasser!"

Once Jounouchi was finished, I shot a blast of cold toward Pegasus and gave a shout of glee when the man was forced out of sight and Yugi's mind.

"You guys…!" Yami's voice suddenly appeared, echoing around the halls.

"Yugi, your other self is fine!" Anzu called out. "Don't worry!"

"We're right by your side, man…" Honda called as well.

"Just focus on beating, Pegasus!" Jounouchi huffed out. "Christine and I will make sure he doesn't come back!"

I made a bright laugh, the first one of this entire duel probably.

"I have wanted to do that for so long!" I cheered. "Maybe you could try to trick him into coming back so I could do that again!"

There was no response from Yami but I bet he was shaking his head in some form of amusement.

We all waited there for what seemed like forever. Jounouchi and I keeping our eyes peeled just in case Pegasus decided to have another crack at us. It remained quiet, the halls still; the only real sound was all of our breaths.

After another few minutes, Anzu gave a cry of joy. Jounouchi and I both rushed back inside to see that Yugi was sitting up, a bright smile on his face.

"Yug!" Jounouchi cried and barreled the poor boy into a tight hug.

The rest of us laughed as Yugi gasped for air, begging for Jounouchi to release him so he could breathe. I laughed until an arm wrapped around my waist. Turning, I saw Yami wearing his own smile. He looked so relieved, like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. I playfully elbowed him but he didn't retort angrily, only chuckling slightly and tightening his grip on me.

Yugi finally managed to pull away from Jounouchi's bear hug, looking to where Yami and I were standing. The boy raced over and the two high fived.

The room then faded away into white. I eventually opened my eyes to see the ground of the platform we were all standing on. I looked up to see everyone else gathering their bearings.

"We all good?" Anzu asked.

"I think so." Honda replied. "How about you, Bakura?"

"Little dizzy but I'm fine." He replied back with a nod.

"Looks like we all made it back…" I trailed away just before rushing to the edge to look at the duel table below.

Jounouchi joined me and we both gave bright smiles. Yami, Yugi was probably resting for a second, was standing above the crumpled Pegasus. The spirit hadn't done anything to the man, at least not yet. He looked up to all of us and gave a bright smile and a thumbs up.

Insanity ensued.

"Yugi did it!" Jounouchi cheered. "He won!"

Anzu and I gripped each other in a tight hug, jumping up and down in joy. Honda and Jounouchi were still cheering and Bakura wore a bright smile on his face. When I looked down to the table below again, Yami was glaring at Pegasus.

"Pegasus, you know what you have to do!" He snapped. "Release the souls of Grandpa, Kaiba and Mokuba immediately!"

I was extremely tempted to tell him off, remind him of manners, but I ignored the temptation. He was mad and rightfully so.

Pegasus didn't glare nor growl. He sat there for a moment, completely resigned in what had happened.

"Yes…" He finally spoke. "I'll keep my promise…"

The creator of Duel Monsters took two cards out of his jacket pocket, holding them up in front of his face. The Millennium Eye glowed for a second but my attention was dragged away from the table when Anzu pulled out the camcorder that contained Grandpa's soul.

"Hoho…" Grandpa chortled. "That feels weird…."

A flash of light left the camcorder, screaming like Grandpa, and bouncing around the room before shooting through the wall. Another shot through the floor while the last one flittered toward Mokuba and vanished.

"Look!" Anzu cried. "Your grandfather disappeared from the screen!"

"His soul is free!" Honda cheered.

I couldn't help but smile; everything was ok now! My attention was once more taken to the table where Pegasus was beginning to speak again.

"My men will get your prize ready." Pegasus said. "Don't worry…"

Yami didn't reply and Pegasus kept speaking. "Using my Millennium Eye, I've seen the minds of all kinds of people, but never a person with two souls. So that is the power of your Millennium Puzzle…"

"Who knows?" Yami finally replied. "Even I don't know the full power of the Millennium Puzzle. But I feel some kind of force-some will brought me and my other self together."

"You don't even know about… the evil power hidden in the Millennium Items? Not just an evil power, an evil intelligence."

Evil Intelligence? What was he talking about? Bakura seemed just as confused as I was, his eyes wide.

"Pegasus!" Yami began again. "How did you get your Millennium Item? Where did you get it? And why? Tell me before I send you to oblivion!"

Now I'm going to tell him off…..

"Yami!" I huffed out. "Don't…."

He flittered his gaze to me for a half a second, proving he heard me, but he looked back with the same glare.

Pegasus didn't seem to notice, or seem to care, about the threat as he pulled another picture out of his pocket. I couldn't see the picture from my height but Pegasus called the woman painted there Cecelia and she was the love of his life. She had been the daughter of one of Pegasus' father's friends and they had fallen in love. When she had died just after marrying him, Pegasus lost the will to keep going. He eventually made his way to Egypt and his path crossed with Shadi's. After following him and his men into an underground temple and seeing the violent death of a thief, Pegasus had been found and was judged by the Millennium Eye. I covered my mouth when he reached the part of the actual test of the eye, having to cut out his real eye himself in order to try.

It worked.

From what Pegasus said, he saw Cecilia, if only for a moment, before she vanished again.

I couldn't help but glance at Yami, to see his reaction. His face was a mixture of shock and an emotion I couldn't place on his face.

Pegasus allowed the platform to lower back down to the ground and had Croquet lead all of us to where Mokuba had been settled by Honda and Bakura. When we all arrived, Yami strode silently over to the open balcony to look out over the horizon. I left him be for the moment, he probably had a lot running through his head and wanted a moment to think it through before returning to us.

My thoughts were also all jumbled up together. In the back of my mind, I knew each and every piece of information about this world, but no matter how hard I tried to remember it now, nothing would come. I wanted to help in any way I could but….. I gave a soft sigh. Nothing was going to help that now. I had to keep on my toes and remember as it came along. Bakura was the first one to say anything.

"You don't seem too happy about beating Pegasus…." He managed out.

"Yeah…." Jounouchi agreed. "You didn't even give him a Penalty Game! I shoulda just slugged him one!"

With an annoyed glance from Anzu, I stood from my chair and flicked the blond in the nose, freezing it ever so slightly. "What was that for?!"

"If you were in the same situation, what would you have done?" I asked gently.

Nobody answered my question, everyone looked away from me and back down to the sleeping Mokuba. I simply sighed and walked over to the edge of the room, next to the door of the balcony. With a slight glance, I could see Yami was holding the Millennium Puzzle lightly in his hand. I didn't need the Millennium Eye to see the thoughts whirling through his head.

Before I could even think about going out there to talk to him, everyone else began to gasp loudly and shout Mokuba's name. The raven haired boy had indeed woken up and was looking around the room bleary eyed. Everyone crowded around him, too excited at the moment to notice that he was quickly becoming scared out of his wits.

"Poor thing…." Anzu murmured out. "He's so scared…"

I pulled myself away from the wall at last and stepped softly over to Mokuba. He looked up at me hesitantly as I felt his forehead for a temperature. I gave a smile when there was no extra heat and pulled away.

"Morning, sleepy head." I said with a smile. "How do you feel?"

Mokuba stared at all of us for a few moments, his eyes moving from person to person, still bleary eyed.

"You guys…." He finally said. "Am… Am I…?"

Anzu gave him a smile now.

"It's okay!" She told him. "Yugi beat Pegasus!"

"Kaiba Corp's safe too!" Honda added on, his own smile in place. "So don't worry!"

"Yugi saved me?" Mokuba breathed out, his head turning to where Yami had apparently moved to, which was exactly where I stood before Mokuba woke up.

"Not just me." Yami replied. "We all did."

Mokuba stared at us for a long time before something hit him. His eyes widened and he leaped out of bed, forcing Anzu and Honda aside.

"I can't just lie here!" He shouted. "I have to go home and take care of Seto! Get out of my way!"

"Mokuba…" Yami quickly said, stopping the boy in his tracks. "Your brother is on this island!"

"What?!"

Yami nodded his head gently as Mokuba's fists clenched tightly. "My brother…. Where?! Where is he?!"

Before we could think about leaving, Croquet arrived to speak with Yugi about something. I stayed behind, checking Mokuba over once more to really see if he was alright. The boy fidgeted every second, practically fighting himself to not push me aside like he did with the others.

Once Yami had returned, along with the prize money and Kaiba's briefcase, we all set out in search of Kaiba. Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu and Yami all decided to search outside the castle while Bakura and I would search the interior. To make it easier, Bakura and I split the castle in half, one half for each of us to search. When I returned to the entrance of the castle after unsuccessfully searching for the CEO, an uncomfortable feeling came over me. It was like I was forgetting something important but also the feeling that you get when an event became known.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something." I groaned aloud. "I hate this!"

I created a checklist of everything that I had brought to the island and sighed when I came to the item that I had left. "My bag, of course. I left it in the duel arena."

Not wanting to worry the gang with making them wait any longer for me, I bolted down the hall and to the room where we had entered earlier for the Duel. It felt like a lifetime ago since I entered this room. I shook off the reverie and approached the door. It was already open and I figured that someone was still inside. "Hello?" I called as I opened the door. "I'm sorry to intrude but I seem to have left my….." I trailed away as my eyes landed on something across the way.

Pegasus was still sitting in the chair he had commandeered for the Duel. He was almost limp, nothing like how he was when we had left him earlier. "Pegasus?" I called as I approached him, making only a small detour to grab my bag that I had left behind. "Are you all right?"

There was no response from the Duel Monsters creator, only a silence that could have been mistaken for the dead. I stepped in the Duel ring and finally stopped dead in my tracks. I now knew why Pegasus wasn't moving…. or breathing….

I let out a blood curdling scream.

* * *

Outside Pegasus' castle, Yami and the rest of the gang, minus Bakura, were waiting to see if Kaiba had made his way out on his own. Mokuba paced frantically with his brother's briefcase clutched in his hands. Yami was stone faced, eyes narrowed as he searched the horizon for any sign of the elder Kaiba. He was slightly worried about Christine, she and Bakura hadn't returned from the castle yet and he was nearly about to suggest a rescue mission. His partner soothed him, saying that Christine would be fine and would definitely call if she needed any help; Yami hoped that he was telling the truth.

Something then caught all of their attention. Kaiba had appeared at the top of the steps. He was slightly stone-faced, emotionless, like he was still soulless. That is, until his eyes caught sight of Mokuba.

"Mokuba!" He called and the boy, dropping the large briefcase behind him, raced up the stone steps to pull his elder brother into a hug.

Through the corner of his eye, Yami could see the last traces of his penalty game, through the slightly visible form of a younger Kaiba, vanish with a bright smile on his face.

"For Kaiba…" Yami began aloud. "Mokuba was the final piece… Maybe the puzzle of his heart is complete at last."

The cheery moment was ruined by Jounouchi's loud sniffling from across the way. Yami was convinced that Christine would have burst into laughter at the sight.

"Aw geez…." Jounouchi sniffled out. "Th-They're so…. so brotherly! I just can't hate 'em…. Those jerks!"

Anzu rolled her eyes at the reaction as she stepped toward Jounouchi.

"And you got the prize money, Jounouchi!" She reminded him. "You can pay for your sister's operation!"

Jounouchi held up the envelope holding the check from Pegasus. He said nothing for a moment and then he turned to look at Yami.

"Yugi… Is it really okay if I take this money?"

Yami smiled at him, knowing that was what Yugi would have done as well.

"It is!" Yami said. "You were the real champion of the Kingdom."

From across the way, Honda's face became deadpan.

"That's true…" Honda muttered. "It was a miracle he advanced to the finals…"

"He raised his level the most!" Anzu agreed.

Jounouchi, not hearing what Honda said at all, put the envelope into his pocket and looked up to his friend.

"Yugi…" The blond began. "I owe you big time…"

"Jounouchi…" Yami softly chastised. "For us, the real test has just begun. Someday, until the day you beat me, you can owe me one!"

Anzu jumped in, counting softly on her fingers.

"Christine would know the number but what's your and Yugi's record?" She asked.

"Well…. Starting from a week ago and including this Kingdom…." Jounouchi began to scratch the back of his neck nervously. "I've got zero wins, 187 losses."

Both Honda and Anzu groaned and Yami couldn't help but chuckle. The laugh was cut short when he caught sight of Yugi appearing next to him. He wore a soft smile as he watched his friends.

 _"Other self…"_ Yugi began. _"It doesn't matter where you came from."_

Yami didn't reply, knowing that Yugi heard his thoughts from the balcony earlier. _"What matters is that I'm glad you're here! You mean a lot of me… and they all feel the same way!"_ Yami smiled to the boy and was suddenly surprised when they boy turned to him with a suspicious look. _"Though I do want to know about the funny business between you and Christine. Don't think I didn't hear any of that."_ Yami fought off an uncomfortable laugh, only letting out a soft chuckle.

"I'll let her explain that…." He finally said.

Yugi took the answer and vanished back into their body. Kaiba and Mokuba began to approach the gang, Kaiba with a slight glowering expression on his face.

Before anyone could say anything however, a blood curdling scream echoed from the castle.

"What the…?" Anzu breathed out. "What was that?"

"No idea." Jounouchi breathed out in response and then noticed Yami's wide eyed expression. "Yug? What's wrong?"

Yami had frozen stiff. He knew that scream, he dreaded hearing it again. The first time he heard that scream was when Christine was stuck on the Ferris wheel at the amusement park last year and the gondola above her had exploded. He could still see her tear stained face as she looked down at him from the window. Something had happened…

"That was Christine…" He breathed out before racing back up the castle steps.

"Yugi!" Honda cried after him but followed along.

Kaiba and Mokuba stood there for a moment before Mokuba raced after the rest of the gang.

"What are you doing, Mokuba?" Seto called.

Mokuba quickly turned back around, nerves screaming on his face.

"Christine has helped us before." Mokuba said. "I just want to see if she is ok. Then we can go."

Kaiba seemed less than amused but he went along with it, running after his little brother back into the castle.

* * *

I stood there, shell shocked, for what seemed like forever until I finally moved. I was surprised that it wasn't out the door and down the hall in search of someone more educated in medical needs. I ran right to Pegasus, placing a hand on his shoulder and one on his head.

"Pegasus!" I called. "Pegasus!"

There was still no response. I made a groan and felt his neck for a pulse. It was faint and fading fast. "Shit! What the hell do I do?!"

Wait…. Why was I so concerned? Pegasus had made my life, and the gang's life, miserable for over a week simply for his own desires. He tore apart the Kaiba brothers to weaken them, to take over their company for those desires. Why should I care about what happens to him?

I tried to simply focus on my own annoyance and hatred for the man in front of me but…. The more I stared, the more I couldn't help but think that he was a puppet to the same fate that I was now falling into here in this world. He just wanted to see the woman who had given his life meaning, his purpose. He wanted to see the woman he loved and my heart couldn't help but ache for him.

He didn't deserve to die.

I groaned at the thought. "Though what the hell do I do?! I don't know how to patch someone up who is this far gone!"

 ** _Yes, you do._**

Huh? Who….? I turned all different directions but there was no one else in the room except for me and the slowly dying Pegasus. It was a woman's voice and a small part of my mind thought it was my own voice. I shook it off, confused of how that could be the case. "Who…?"

 ** _Trust yourself, Christine. You know what to do._**

"I don't!" I shouted back. "I was never allowed to look at this kind of stuff, it was too dangerous."

 ** _You don't need to study it, it comes naturally. Believe in yourself and it will come._**

I groaned loudly again. Believe in myself? What was even going on!

I eventually gave up and approached Pegasus once more. If I knew it, I knew it. I would trust this voice for the moment since there was no other alternative I could think of. I apparently knew what to do and allowed my instincts to take control. With a calming breath, my hand moved to cover Pegasus' eyes and my mouth began to move.

I didn't know the words, they were in a soft language that I couldn't even place. I could feel my mouth warping around them, speaking them perfectly as I continued chanting. As I spoke, my hand grew warm, like I was holding Yami's hand back in Domino.

I kept my other hand on Pegasus' shoulder and was beginning to feel the motions of breathing. He was beginning to gasp for air but my mouth continued to move, chanting the unknown words. I was then starting to get dizzy, my head spinning. What was this spell doing to me?

When the words finally stopped, I pulled my hand away to reveal Pegasus opening his eye. I forced myself to look at him, my head still spinning wildly and spoke softly.

"Pegasus?" I called softly. "Can you hear me?"

The man nodded, his hair falling back over his long gone eye. I managed a smile before everything went black.

When I came to, I was being held. Who was holding me? I couldn't open my eyes yet but voices were starting to pierce through the darkness that I was in.

"What happened?" Anzu's voice appeared to left side of me.

"Not sure." Honda's voice replied from not far Anzu's voice.

"Did he take her soul?!" Jounouchi barked out angrily from above me. "I knew we should have done something!"

"Calm down, mutt." Kaiba's voice snapped from a good distance away.

"Mutt?!"

There was grabbing and pulling for a moment, most likely everyone trying to grab Jounouchi before he attempted to murder Kaiba. I tried to open my eyes to see if that was the case but they felt so heavy; I couldn't move even a finger.

"Christine?" Yami's voice was extremely close. "Wake up, Christine."

Was Yami holding me? He better not have committed another Sleeping Beauty incident or I would have killed him. The thought made me want to laugh. I enjoyed picking on him through kissing but I didn't like it when I wasn't conscious for it… Curious indeed.

I fought to open my eyes and was blinded by the lights of the room. I slammed them shut but tried again after a moment. Mokuba was sitting at my waist, looking nervous as he played with my hand. I hadn't felt it being moved before but now I could feel him pulling softly on my fingers. The boy looked up and saw me awake and he gave a bright smile.

"Christine!" He cried.

That made everyone else move and nearly pounce on me. Shouts and calls of my name echoed in my ears, making me want to close them.

"You all are so loud." I groaned out, only serving to make people laugh.

I huffed softly then heard a soft chuckle above me. "Don't laugh at me, buster." I huffed at Yami.

"I'm not." He smiled, helping me to my feet. "I promise."

I would have huffed again had my knees not given way underneath me. Yami was quick to catch me and I wrapped my arms around his neck. My whole body was weak…. What did I do to save Pegasus?

Mokuba jumped forward to help me balance myself and both he and Yami helped me off the dueling platform where I had collapsed. The rest of the gang, including Bakura, stepped forward and checked if I was ok.

"I'm just dizzy." I soothed.

"But why though?" Anzu asked, her arms crossed. "What happened?"

"Yeah." Jounouchi agreed when I wasn't going to answer. "We got in here and Pegasus was being pulled out by a stretcher."

"Well…." I managed before I sighed. "It's complicated."

Every single one of my friends, excluding Yami but I'm sure Yugi did it, huffed at me accusingly and I sighed. "Fine! Someone tried to kill Pegasus! I had to do something!"

"Tried to kill Pegasus?" Honda asked.

I nodded.

"Whoever they were, they ripped the Millennium Eye out of his skull."

That made the members of the gang slightly nervous. Who would want to rip the Millennium Eye out of Pegasus' skull? I faintly remembered Yami Bakura and his desire to possess all the Millennium Items but I couldn't make a positive claim that both he and this criminal were the same. Kaiba made a sound, perhaps clearing his throat, bringing all attention to him.

"Well, now that we have this all squared away." Kaiba began harshly. "Mokuba and I are now leaving."

He turned to walk away, Jounouchi shouting behind him.

"Then how the heck are we going to get home?!" He shouted. "There are no boats!"

"Then you can swim home." Kaiba retorted back, non-chalantly.

"Grrr! You jerk!"

Mokuba hadn't moved yet. His shoulder was still being using to balance me. He looked deep in thought for a moment before he called out to his elder brother.

"Seto, we should take them on the helicopter with us." Mokuba said.

Kaiba turned back around, his face a look of shock.

"What?!" He gasped.

Mokuba wasn't fazed by the anger, only keeping his expression sincere.

"Please?"

Kaiba glared at all of us, before huffing and turning away again. Mokuba took that as his acceptance and with a smile, led us to the helicopter.

I was up front with Mokuba and Kaiba while the rest of the gang were squished together in the back. Yugi's face was a bright red from him being pressed up against Anzu. I couldn't laugh, he looked so uncomfortable.

"Once we get back in Japan, we're even!" Kaiba snapped back at Yugi. "Got it?!"

Nobody argued and we braced for lift off. Jounouchi, having caught sight of Mai, kicked down the emergency ladder to let her on board; he nearly fell out in the process.

That I happily laughed at.

* * *

We all went home after being dropped off by Kaiba, all agreeing that we should wait a day or so before going to get Grandpa from the hospital.

Yugi simply jumped up and down on his tip toes as all of us walked down the street toward the large white building. Grandpa was waiting there when we arrived, being checked out by one of the nurses. The old man noticed us and gave a bright smile. Yugi barreled him into a hug and I knew that our little family was finally together again.

When we arrived back at the Game Shop, a little blonde girl was waiting. She snapped at Grandpa in her high pitched voice and there was only one thing I could say in response.

"Good night." I sighed. "I'll see you all later."

I walked away, stepped into the house and fell asleep in my bed.

I was still exhausted from whatever I had done at Duelist Kingdom and was happy to sleep whenever I could. This time, I slept for a good number of hours as I was woken up gently by Yugi, telling me that dinner was almost ready. That was the night I met Rebecca and her grandfather, Arthur Hawkins, the man who had gotten Grandpa his Blue Eyes.

I may have been awake for the entire encounter but I was still exhausted. I remembered collapsing once they had left for their hotel.

Even after a week I was still frazzled and exhausted. I could tell both Yugi and Yami were worried about me; I could catch Yugi's worried whispers to his other self whenever I was "napping" on the couch. I did my best to soothe them, say that I was just tired from the hectic few days of Duelist Kingdom, but they knew better. Something had happened when I rescued Pegasus.

Neither of them were mad at me for my decision, they respected it. I guess that they agreed with me that he didn't deserve to die, even after everything. Yami wouldn't tell me of his thoughts on the situation whenever he was allowed to roam the house; he wanted to entertain himself by poking fun at me or distracting me with something else.

It was entertaining when Yugi first confronted me about what his other self thought of me. The boy was polite, asking his questions calmly, but I saw the curiosity in his eyes. I told him as much as I really felt comfortable with before telling him to ask Yami, he'd answer better than I could. Yami was quick to take over and retort the opposite. I simply tsked and subtly reminded him of a couple of shadow games that he would need to explain. Yami blushed slightly but huffed at me, releasing control back to Yugi. The boy seemed even more confused but asked nothing more.

Then the small package arrived.

"You have mail, Christine!" Grandpa called from the shop downstairs.

"Coming!" I called back as I jumped out of the living room where Yugi and I were playing a board game.

I raced down the stairs and smiled as Grandpa handed me a medium sized manila folder like package. It was slightly heavy, a solid object wrapped inside. I didn't look at who sent it as I was shooed off by Grandpa to enjoy my Sunday before school started again.

Yugi must have been talking to Yami as when I got back to the living room, Yugi was talking to the nearby wall. Pretty sure Yami was teasing him about Anzu as his face was a bright red. I decided to take pity on the boy. "Quit picking on him, Yami." I said aloud, making Yugi look to me finally. I sat down next to Yugi and played with my package. Yugi looked at it as well.

"What is it?" Yugi asked.

"No clue." I replied. "No idea who sent it."

Yugi hummed as I flipped over the package and saw the return address. It was from California, United States and... "Industrial Illusions?" I asked aloud.

The package was plucked out of my hands by a quickly summoned Yami.

"No way!" He barked, grabbing the package and walking away with it.

I groaned loudly, following him to get it back.

"Yami, give it back." I huffed at the spirit.

"No." He easily replied. "What if it is another trap?"

"A trap? Pegasus doesn't have the Millennium Eye anymore! What could he do to us?"

"Uh..." Yami seemed to be fighting for a response to my question but nothing came to his mind apparently.

"And besides, who are you to take my mail?"

I made a wild grab for the package but Yami was too fast for me. Moving quickly aside and holding the package above his head.

"I'm your boyfriend, that's who I am."

A small blush flittered across my cheeks and Yami began to laugh. I made another wild grab for my mail in an attempt to redeem myself and my dented pride.

"Yeah? Well... That doesn't give you an excuse to take my mail from me!"

"Not even to protect you from suspected traps?" Yami asked in an innocent but teasing voice.

The blush returned full force and Yami laughed even harder.

"Just give it back!" I huffed, trying to grab the package again.

The spirit kept moving out of my grasp, the teasing smile still on his face. Grandpa even walked in after he closed the shop and chuckled lightly at the two of us. I huffed at the old man before racing after Yami again. He soon raced out of the living room with me on his heels.

He tried to hole himself in Yugi's room but I was quick enough to keep the door open. I saw the slight panic on his face at the prospect of me being in the way of his exit. The spirit attempted to jump around me to race out the door but unfortunately for him, I was able to grab his wrist and hold him in place. Yami yanked at my grip, trying to pull away as fast as he could. He was still holding my package over his head, way out of my reach. An idea of how to get my package came to mind and I gave an evil smile. "Yugi, I apologize now!"

Yami stopped fighting against my grip, suddenly thinking over what I said. He turned back to me, eyebrow raised.

"Huh?"

I didn't reply, hopping up to my tip toes to press a kiss to Yami's lips. The spirit froze in place, surprised at my movement. In his surprise, Yami's arm came back to his side and I heard my package hit the side of his leg with a light thud.

I pulled away after a moment, satisfied with the blank stare that had settled on his face, his crimson eyes hardly straying from my face. I gave a smile before taking my package back from the thieving spirit.

"Thank you." I simply said, the smile still in place.

Waiting just a small second to see if Yami would reply, which he didn't, I finally skipped out of Yugi's room and over to mine to open my mail. I sat on my bed and began to carefully pull on packaging tape.

When it was halfway open, a head plopped onto my lap and I stopped moving. With a quick glance, I checked to see if I was right about the identity of this person. "So have we graduated onto a more adult mindset?" I teased. Yami huffed from my lap.

"Shut up and open the stupid package."

"Very well."

I got the package open all the way and peeked inside first. All I could see was small bits of bubble wrap and a letter on the edge. I pulled out the letter first. Yami pulled away from my lap and sat up to read over my shoulder.

 _'To my Darling Christine,_

 _Even as I begin to write this, I do not know the words and emotions I wish to express to you, but firstly, I must apologize to you, for everything I've done to you and your friends. I would like to apologize to Mr. Motou for dragging him into something I shouldn't have. I can apologize to Kaiba-boy at my leisure but could you pass on my sorrows to Yugi-boy? In my grief, I had done so many atrocious things to him. It is of no blame to him if he doesn't accept my apologies, he is right of mind to do so._

 _And my dear, now I wish to thank you. You had no reason to save my life, I had only made yours miserable for over a week, and yet you did. I will not ask for your motives, as I am not petty in my thanks._

 _There is nothing I can offer to repay you, except everything I have. So I tell you this with every single ounce of truth in my body: a life is priceless, and that means there is nothing that you could ask for that I will not provide for you. My life, in essence, is yours to command, Christine._

 _Now, I come bearing gifts! I know, I know, it sounds a little odd, don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all, but roll with me, dear. The small packet outside of the bubble wrap is for Mr. Motou, perhaps my way of apologizing to him; I heard a bug tossed these over the edge of the boat on the way to the island. And the second gift is wrapped in the wrap itself; I hope you enjoy it, my dear, as I worked extremely hard on it._

 _Have a charming day and a pleasant start of term,_

 _Maximilian Pegasus'_

By the time Yami got to the part of the 'bug on the boat', he was looking through the package and pulled out the small white packet. Just as I finished reading the last sentence or two, Yami had pulled it open and gave an audible gasp.

"No way..." He breathed out.

"What?" I asked.

The spirit held up the cards and my jaw dropped. "Exodia...?"

Sure enough, in Yami's hand was a new, full set of Exodia the Forbidden One. The old man had been a bit upset that his years of searching for the pieces had been washed away by Weevil's act of cheating. Though, would he accept Pegasus' gift?

With nothing else in that subject, Yami then pulled out the bubble wrapped object and handed it to me.

"Think this is yours?" He asked.

I glanced over the letter again, reading the last sentence. He worked extremely hard on it? I took it and began to peel the tap holding it together.

It was a small art canvas; Pegasus was an artist, so maybe he painted something? I had pulled it out upside down so I flipped it over to see what was painted on the other side.

I would have dropped it had Yami not caught my hand at the last second. "Woah woah... You ok?" I didn't reply, staring at the image painstakingly drawn onto the canvas.

Staring back at me, was my own face.

I, or someone who looked eerily like me, was lounging on the edge of a stone fountain. I seemed older, about two or three years older, and I wasn't dressed normally. A linen dress, kept up by a large Scarab brooch at the chest and golden sleeves that hung off my shoulders, with a blue accent down the lower half. My blonde hair hung straight down, pooling onto the stone I was sitting on. I seemed to be smiling at the artist, Pegasus, like I had asked for a simple portrait.

"What the…?" I breathed. "What is this?"

Yami took the canvas from me, looked at it for a moment, and then set it aside. He settled his hands on my face next, forcing me to look at him.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

I waited for a second before shaking my head. Yami's face became a light frown but he said nothing to deter me. He eventually moved his hands away, holding both of mine. "It's probably just a little idea that Pegasus came up with." He seemed to soothe. "He probably found it funny." That made me laugh slightly.

"One last crack, huh?" I replied.

Yami gave a light shrug, the calming smile not leaving his face.

"Maybe."

Using my hands, Yami pulled me off the bed towards the door. "Come on. Grandpa probably will have dinner ready soon. Yugi's going on and on about burgers." I gave a bright laugh, typical Yugi.

Before we reached the door though, Yami stopped. He eyes were fixed on something hanging on my wall. He turned back slowly, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. "What's that?" He asked.

"What's what?" I asked in reply.

"You know."

I raised an eyebrow before tilting my head to look at the picture Yami was complaining about. I couldn't stop the giggle that escaped my lips. The picture of Yugi and me from the amusement park hung on the wall just out of sight from the door but from the angle we were standing at, it could be seen as clear as day. "I thought I told you to get rid of that thing." I pulled away from Yami's hands and slid very slowly to the open door.

"I made no promise to do that." I replied. "You said I could keep it. I just didn't let you see it…. Until just now?"

Yami was not amused, his eyebrows twitched and lips were fighting either a smirk or a sneer. Either one, I didn't like. Finally, he let out an almost murderous chuckle.

"You're so getting Penalty Gamed now."

I bolted, Yami right on my heels.

"Get back here!"

"No way, Jose!"

Laughter echoed through small house again, the antithesis of what was there before. The art canvas still sat on my bed but I would worry about it later. Pegasus had a reason for sending me his newest piece of art and that would be revealed only when time was right.

That time was slowly approaching.

End of Duelist Kingdom (7/7/2017)

 **Wow! This one is long! Well, I wanted to get this to you before it got too long between updates.**

 **Tidbit! I'm considering getting a commission from BruneGonda, one of my favorite artists that I follow and have made contact with her, of Christine that could become a cover image for the next story. Very excited to see how it turns out!**

 **See you all in the next chapter and then in the next story!**

 **RobynHood3**


	17. Kaiba's Virtual World

**Hey guys! Back from Grandma's and ready to post the final chapter of this story! OMG! It's crazy that I've managed to get everything on here! I'm grateful for all you readers for managing to survive 175 pages of insanity with me. Did you all know that once you get to too many pages, Microsoft Word will stop telling you that words are spelled incorrectly? It was almost the bane of my existence.**

 **I've started writing the next section, Battle City, but it's gonna be a bit; I like having a few chapters before starting posting. I'm having a hard time deciding how to start it as I mostly follow the manga with some anime motions. It's hard!**

 **I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I only own Christine.**

 **Have fun in Kaiba's Virtual World!**

Man, it was a lousy day. It was sunny all throughout Duelist Kingdom but now it was pouring down rain. Luckily Grandpa saw the weather report and forced us to go to school with umbrellas; that took most of the wetness away, except my poor socks were a lost cause after Jounouchi splashed me whilst jumping in a puddle. I promised vengeance but didn't feel like following through with it any time soon.

When we arrived back at the Game Shop, Grandpa was finishing up placing some new cards into the display case. Jounouchi and Honda were looking wide eyed at them. Yugi, Anzu and I were all rolling our eyes. Bakura was out of town for a day or so, said it was something urgent.

"I'll take it!" Jounouchi smiled at Grandpa, pointing to one of the cards. "Put it on my tab, Gramps!"

"Your tab's past due, Jounouchi." Grandpa huffed. "Christine did the math for me last night."

"Then put it on Honda's."

"Hey!" Honda argued.

I was about to laugh but the bell on the door rang. We all turned to look and were amazed to see Mokuba standing there, absolutely drenched from what looked to be running in the rain. He was gasping for air.

"Please." He managed after another gasp. "Please help me."

We all rushed the boy upstairs and near the heater. Thankfully the pot was on the stove as Mokuba would need something to warm him back up. Anzu had grabbed a large blanket from the linen closet and draped him with it. Once he looked like a snowman with the many layers we put on him, Mokuba told us what had happened. When he was done, Yugi was the first to speak.

"So you're saying that the only way Kaiba can escape is by winning the game?" Yugi asked.

Mokuba nodded.

"But if those creeps reprogrammed the entire adventure just to keep Kaiba trapped there…" Anzu mused. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know…." Mokuba's voice shook as he spoke, breaking my heart. "But I thought…. I thought you could help."

"Calm down, Mokuba." Grandpa soothed. "We will, we will. Now tell us more about this Virtua-Pod your brother was designing."

"I don't know much. I was pretty young when he started it. I remember him spending endless hours working on the prototypes, trying to make it perfect."

Jounouchi's eyes widened and he leaned into the conversation over Yugi's shoulder.

"Prototypes?" He asked. "So there are other ones?"

Mokuba nodded again.

"In his lab. It was my brother's dream to create the world's ultimate virtual adventure land, but those corporate jerks turned it into a nightmare."

"Lousy suits." Jounouchi huffed, annoyed. "We'll show them like we did Pegasus."

"Huh?" Both Mokuba and Anzu asked while I raised a confused eyebrow. What was he going on about?

Yugi jumped up from his seat on the couch then.

"That's right." He agreed. "We'll use those pod prototypes, go to that virtual world, and rescue Kaiba!"

Mokuba seemed shell shocked for a moment. He stared at Yugi before smiling.

"Thanks, guys." He beamed.

Yugi and Jounouchi were told to gather their decks, which they did, and the blond gave a winning smile when he popped over to me. I raised my eyebrow at him and he spilled the beans.

"I think Christine should bring hers along!" He cheered. "You absolutely creamed me that last round before Duelist Kingdom!"

I gave him a blank stare. Which one was he talking about? Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember your deck? The one with the plants and stuff?" That rang a bell.

"OOOOOHHH!" I gasped then gave a light chuckle. "Well…. You see…. I made that thing up on the spot; I don't remember a single card in that deck."

Jounouchi's jaw dropped as he stared me. I gave another embarrassed chuckle. "I didn't think my deck would be appropriate for a beginner duelist to go up against so I made a new one out of the cards on the table. I was so surprised that I actually won a number of times." Jounouchi's eyes narrowed at me and I figured that he was slightly upset with me.

"Then go grab yours!" He huffed before storming away.

I rolled my eyes but did as I was told. It was the first time I'd actually use it in this world. I wasn't sure whether or not to be excited or a bit nervous.

We grabbed our umbrellas and raced out the door once I forced Mokuba to finish the rest of his warm drink.

"We'll be back soon, Grandpa!" Yugi called as we ran off.

"Do be careful!" Grandpa called back.

"We will!"

"Wait up!" Mokuba shouted. "You guys don't even know the way!"

Mokuba in the lead, we bolted through town towards a warehouse filled lot. Knowing Kaiba, they probably weren't simple warehouses but state of the art laboratories. "This is it. My brother's personal laboratory. He doesn't like anyone messing around in here, but I used to sneak in all the time." Handing me his umbrella, Mokuba climbed up the gate door and opened it from the other side.

We eventually reached one of the middle buildings and Mokuba spoke again. "This is where Seto keeps his most secret stuff." We tossed the umbrellas away and bolted into the building, running toward a door Mokuba opened with ease. The boy popped on the lights and we were amazed to see the large pods, like the ones from Alien or other space movie, sitting in the room.

"Those are the prototypes?!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "Wow!"

Mokuba raced toward the controls and typed furiously for a moment.

"Yep." He chirped out after all the pods whirled to life for a moment. "Just like the model my brother's in."

Jounochi counted the pods for a moment while Yugi poked his head up against the glass. (Breaking canon here!)

"Awesome! Four pods!" He turned a grin on me. "I get to see Christine's deck!"

I let my face fall into a frown. Is that all he was worried about?

"Chill out, Jounouchi." I said. "Before I make you."

The grin fell away and he quickly slid into one of the opening pods. I huffed once more before pulling something out of my pocket. "Anzu!" The girl turned to me just before I tossed a large white orb to her. I had grabbed it on a whim while I was getting my deck. If those goons had worked this hard to get rid of Kaiba, we shouldn't take any chances in stopping them from stopping us.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Something to keep out unwanted guests." I winked back. "Just toss it at the door if you feel like someone has a chance of getting in. "

Anzu nodded moving back with Honda as he fiddled with the controls.

"You guys had better be careful." She pleaded once she got there.

Jounouchi waved a hand dismissively.

"We'll be fine, Anzu!" Jounouchi brushed off the concern.

"Yeah, don't you worry about a thing." Yugi agreed, though in a more polite way. "We'll have Kaiba rescued in no time."

"Let 'er rip, Honda!"

I quickly jumped into my pod and slid my deck into place. My chest was tightening up, the nerves finally settling in. Hopefully this went as well as Yugi and Jounouchi said it would.

The restraints weren't painful, it stopped at the shoulders like the Stitch ride at Disney World. The visor made the whole room dark, most likely so you wouldn't be distracted by outside interference while playing. I could faintly hear Honda speaking before my whole world was engulfed in a large blue portal.

The touchdown was smooth and I was happy we all landed together; I don't know what I would have done if we all were separated. The only thing different about us were the large bracelets that contained our decks and the number 2000 was light up on top. We made our way through the large woods, Yugi and Mokuba at the helm.

"I'm glad I've got my Dueling deck with me, but this lifepoint count makes me a bit nervous." Yugi was saying.

"Well, there has to be one way of saying Game Over." I mused in response. "Life points are probably the least complicated way to do that."

"It still kinda scary."

"No joke, Yug." Jounouchi agreed.

We all walked a few feet further before a large expanse of tombstones appeared out of the fog.

"Speaking of scary." Mokuba gasped out.

Much to my chagrin, we had to walk through the large cemetery. Fog obscured nearly everything from view. I normally stayed away from cemeteries because of my friend's strong aversion to anything relating to the dead so I was immensely freaked out.

"It's hard to believe this is all virtual." Yugi breathed out, amazement clear in his tone.

"Yeah, well it looks plenty real enough to me." Jounouchi's voice was shaking.

"Just nobody do anything silly." I managed out. "Let's just walk fast and-"

I was cut off by the large rumbling of stone. We all stopped moving and turned to see a zombie samurai walking out of the fog.

"Zombies!"

Above all the monsters heads were their attack and defense points. A rather brilliant idea but how to combat them…. "Wait a minute. These zombies are nothing but Duel Monsters! So if I just draw a card…" Jounouchi drew a card. "Then I don't really know what…"

I face palmed. Typical Jounouchi.

"Let me show you how it's done!" Mokuba huffed, pulling out his own card. "I summon the Rude Kaiser!"

Yugi following his lead, pulled one of his cards.

"And I summon the Dark Magician!" He called.

In a flash of light, both monsters appeared and with a call from both Yugi and Mokuba, they attacked the zombies. All three disappeared but there was an uncomfortable twist in my gut. Wait a minute…. One weird thing with zombies in the right conditions… Uh Oh….

"So that's how you do it in Virtual World." Jounouchi was breathing out as my mind was racing.

Just as I realized it, the zombies returned and it seemed like I was the only one to notice their attack points rising. "I got it! I summon the Flame Swordsman! Go Flaming Sword of Battle."

"Jounouchi, wait!" I called out. "Don't attack!"

Yugi caught on just as I finished, his eye widening.

"Cancel your attack, hurry!" He called as well.

By the time Jounouchi heard us, it was too late. His swordsman sliced through the zombie dragon, making it disappear and reappear once more. It let out a loud roar and the Flame Swordsman vanished into oblivion.

"What is going on here?" Jounouchi asked aloud. "Every time we destroy them, they only come back stronger!"

"They still have one overwhelming weakness, Jounouchi! Think about it!"

"What doesn't go up even though their attack points are going up?" I called.

Jounouchi took only a second to realize something and pulled out a spell card, Shield and Sword, switching the attack power with Defense points. They made for easy prey for the Dark Magician's attack.

On the ground where the zombies were standing, a card with the number '5' was spinning.

"What do you think this is?" Mokuba asked after we all picked up one of the cards.

"It must be part of some kind of scoring system." Yugi guessed.

I looked over to Jounouchi, seeing his eyes narrowed on the life point counter on his wrist. It was still at 1820.

"Hey, my life points aren't going back up." He complained.

The rest of us looked at our own counters, mine was still at 2000.

"That sure can't be good, can it?" Mokuba asked.

"Let's just be careful and not let it go to zero, kay?" I mused, lowering my wrist with a sigh. "I'd rather not find out what happens."

Giggling could soon be heard from not far away. Jounouchi's dog like hearing caught it first. It was a little fairy hiding behind one of the tombstones.

"What is that thing?" Mokuba asked.

"Beats me." I replied.

Jounouchi's face lit up into a bright smile. He then pointed to the small fairy.

"Hey, I bet it's one of them fairies that they put in these games to help the players out!"

"Like a tutorial guide?"

Before anyone could respond, the fairy flew off, giggling as it went.

"Quick, let's follow it!"

Nobody argued. We bolted down the path after the fairy but we couldn't keep our eyes on it for more than a few seconds at a time. "I can't keep up!" Jounouchi eventually stopped at the edge of a cliff and stomped his foot in irritation. "That slippery little sprite!"

"There, there." I said sarcastically. "At least you kept up well."

"Look!" Mokuba cried before Jounouchi could huff at me.

"Did you find him?" Jounouchi asked.

"No, but I think I found what it was trying to show us."

Far below us sat an entire village. I couldn't make out everything but I could see everything from shops to maybe even a coliseum.

We all made our way down towards the village. Jounouchi of course spoke about the food there and how he was grateful that he had already eaten.

"Jounouchi, check this out!" Yugi called for him.

It was a large wooden stand of powerful cards. Jounouchi nearly watered at the mouth when he saw them.

"Hey, this one might come in handy here." Jounouchi remarked. "We'll take it!"

"I don't think it works that way, Jounouchi." Mokuba interrupted.

"Huh?"

I glanced down to see the price of the card Jounouchi was looking at, then looked to the blond himself and snickered at the expression on his face. "2000 points?! Well, we must have scored at least that many from those zombies." He pulled out the card we had gotten. "Five?! Not even close!"

"You'd need to destroy at least 400 of those zombies in order to get that card." I giggled and Jounouchi gave another loud sigh.

"Come on, guys." Mokuba sighed. "Let's concentrate on finding my brother first."

That we all agreed on. All four of us took a quarter of the town and began to ask everyone we could for any information on Kaiba's whereabouts. I asked person after person, even doing some help for them, but no one I talked to had seen or heard of Kaiba.

After what seemed like ages, we all converged at the water fountain to go over clues.

"Did you find anything?" Yugi asked Jounouchi.

"Yeah." Jounouchi began sarcastically. "I found out I hate virtual dogs."

I didn't doubt it, one of them was still attached to Jounouchi's bum. Yugi then turned to me and I shook my head.

"No one on my end saw anything either." I replied.

Both Yugi and Jounouchi sighed but perked up when Mokuba approached.

"You guys!" Mokuba cried. "I got a great lead!"

He pointed to the mountain in the distance. "See that mountain? Well, an old woman I was talking to said that she saw a man with a prisoner headed there this morning. Supposedly, there's some kind of ancient temple at the top, and the only way to get there is by crossing this desert."

It seemed too easy. I couldn't help but think that there was some kind of catch, a riddle that we needed to solve in order to cross it. That didn't seem like something Kaiba would do.

"Great." Jounouchi acknowledged in a sarcastic tone. "So, where's our ride?"

Mokuba didn't reply, he only ran out into the desert.

"Wait for us!" Yugi cried.

Jounouchi raced after them while I shouted after them.

"Can't you all think for a second?!" I shouted. "It seems too easy!"

I huffed once they were out of sight. To chase them or no….? I had nearly decided to chase after them when a voice caught my attention.

"Hey, missy!" A man's voice called. "Do you think you can help me with something?"

I turned. The man was walking out to sit on his porch. "I've been out all day and need a moment to rest from the sun. Could you put up the last of these posters?"

I walked over to take the last five to ten posters, glancing over the words written on them but not internalizing them. On it had the image of a woman wearing a butterfly mask and wielding a whip.

"Uh, sure…" I replied back.

"Thank you very much." He beamed back and settled into the chair on his porch.

I was going to walk off and put the posters up but a thought stopped me. I glanced back to the desert for a moment, my friend's figures completely gone.

"Sir?" I asked. "Will my friends be ok?"

"You mean those young fellas that just ran off into the desert?"

I nodded. "They'll be fine. They'll be back within the hour, I guarantee it." I decided to believe him and walked off to put the posters up.

Once I was done, I went back to the edge of town to see all three of my companions were back but unconscious in the sand. Jounouchi and Mokuba were stirring but Yugi remained motionless on his stomach.

"Yugi!" I cried, running over to the three.

Jounouchi looked up to see me approach. He seemed confused.

"Where were you?" He asked as I dropped to the ground to help Yugi. "You vanished!"

I leveled him with a dirty look. The blonde still looked confused and didn't drop his question.

"I didn't go after you into the desert." I told him, returning my attention to Yugi. "Something seemed fishy so I didn't follow. It's a good thing I didn't as we'd just have gone in one big circle."

Yugi opened his eyes then. He was a little dazed but was able to stand up on his own.

"What happened?" He asked.

"That sand twister blew us back into town." Jounouchi replied. "I think it shook up the little guy a bit, too."

Mokuba seemed worse for wear but I knew he'd be find and Yugi agreed. The man from earlier began to laugh in a crazed way.

"That ain't no way to be crossing no desert!" He laughed at us.

That got our attention. We all ran over to where the man was sitting.

"Wait, are you saying you know how to cross it then?"

"No, it's not me who knows. It's them desert crossing Niwatori chickens."

"Them what?" Then it dawned on Jounouchi. "Oh! You mean the Niwatori card!"

"Thanks, mister." Yugi thanked the man. "Could you please tell us where we could go to get a card?"

"I wish I could," The man quickly replied, "but they can't be got, they can only be won."

Won? Wait a minute…. I bolted away from the two and over to where I had placed my first poster. I looked over it again and cursed myself for not reading it the first time.

"Guys!" I called. "I know where to get one!"

All the boys ran over and looked over what I was looking at. "I put up 10 of these and I've only now just read what it was about!"

"Fame, glory, and the prized Niwatori card await the heroic warrior who can beat our champion." Mokuba read aloud. "Signed the Grand Battle Chief and Combat Outfitter of Shadow Coliseum."

With no one arguing against the idea of signing up, we all made our way to the Coliseum. The Battle Chief was just an enormous frog like creature and I shivered when he caught a fly with his tongue. I thought Jounouchi would be given the outfit but the large man walked over to me with a dark blue cape and a white mask that flittered up into an almost crown.

"Wait a minute!" Jounouchi argued. "Why are you gonna make her do it?!"

The large man gave a bright smile and I shivered again.

"This would make for the better show!" He simply said before walking away.

I said nothing as Jounouchi growled again. He began to grumble but I broke off his train of thought.

"Don't worry about it, Jounouchi." I said with a smile. "At least they didn't give me a pig outfit. Besides, if they want a cat fight, I'll give them one."

"Are you sure you'll be ok, Christine?" Yugi asked, nervously.

I winked.

"I'll be perfectly fine! I'll get us that Niwatori Card in no time flat!"

I walked off to pull the costume on and waited for the match to start. The large man's voice echoed over the crowd as he began to speak.

"Ladies and Gentleman!" He cried out. "We have, at last, found a soul brave enough to challenge our champion. I present to you the lady of the frozen wastelands, the picture of a cold, unbending will, the cold breeze that will knock you off your feet. Introducing the challenger that I've dubbed Ice Queen!"

Ice Queen? I huffed in my head as I walked out into the coliseum proper. Oh, wait till I get my hands on you!

There were catcalls from all directions and with a quick glance a Yugi, I knew Yami was not approving. The amethyst eyes were flashing between their normal color and a dark crimson. Poor Yugi…. Having to deal with a jealousy ridden darker half.

An idea hit me. How about this, you jerks.

As this was a virtual world, who would see me using my powers to cause a little chaos? I tapped the ground with my big toe and watched with amusement as much of the coliseum froze. Mokuba's eyes were wide but I saw Jounouchi leaning over to say something, most likely explaining what I could do to him. I gave a quick smile before turning back to the other side of the arena.

"Now, introducing our undefeated champion! The Monarch of Mayhem! The Queen of Mean! Madame Butterfly!"

The crowd went wild as the champion was carried out on her own settee. I rolled my eyes. How come I got catcalled while she didn't? The opposing woman didn't seem too unnerved by the crowd as she jumped off the settee and towards me.

Welp, here we go.

* * *

Madame Butterfly looked me over for a moment before scoffing lightly.

"A cold breeze, huh?" She waved her hand dismissively. "It'll be easy to weather this one out."

I rolled my eyes. Two could play at this game.

"Well, when was the last time you saw a butterfly survive a blizzard?" I asked in retaliation. "It'll be most fun ripping your wings off."

We stared at each other for a moment, a light growl out of both of our mouths, before we both shouted together.

"Let's duel!"

I pulled my card first, trying to think of a good first move. I won't pull out the big guns just yet, leave that for later.

"I summon D.D Assailant!" I called, the white clad warrior appearing from a flash of light, sword drawn behind her. Her attack and defense points flashed above her head, (1700/1600).

"Well, let's have a little dance, shall we?" Madame Butterfly chuckled as she drew her own card. "Harpie Lady!"

I definitely knew this monster; I saw it less than a week ago! I should've known the attack points but I was grateful for them flashing, (1300/1400). The only one I knew who played with Harpie Lady was Mai but…. How could she be here? And knowing her, she had a trap card waiting.

"D.D Assailant, attack!"

My warrior pounced and ran for the Harpie. Madame Butterfly gave a loud laugh.

"Seems you're a little too excited, dear! You must not know about trap cards! Mirror Wall!"

Called it!

The wall appeared right in front of the Harpie Lady and my D.D Assailant's attack rebounded to herself, lowering her attack power to 850. I didn't let my face change into one of annoyance, only keeping the smile on my face. This was definitely Mai's strategy, but was it her?

Madame Butterfly gave a loud cackle in glee. "My Harpie Lady sure knows how to bring home the bacon." My eye twitched. Yep, this is Mai. "Ready for the big finish?" She held up a magic card that I knew well. It raised Harpie Lady's attack to 1800 points. "Rose Whip attack!" The whip came flying toward my warrior and I knew it was now or never.

"Mai, wait!" I called, pulling off the mask and crown and letting her see my face.

She recognized me immediately.

"Stop Attack!" She called and the whip retreated. "Christine?" She asked as she removed her own mask.

I gave a smile.

"Hey, how's your neck?"

Mai gave a squeal and pulled me into a tight hug. "Mai! Mai! Let go!"

"What are you doing here, Mai?" Yugi called, not seeming to care that I was still trapped in Mai's tight grip.

The blonde woman finally looked up from her hug to give a smile to Yugi and the other boys as they ran over to where we were.

"Yugi! Mokuba! Jounouchi!" She cried. "I'm…. testing this game for some suits at Kaiba Corp."

Jounouchi came last, a serious look on his face.

"Listen, you could be in danger, Mai." He said.

"Yeah." Mokuba agreed. "Those suits kidnapped my big brother."

"Kaiba's in a temple across the desert." Yugi added on. "They've trapped his mind in this virtual game."

Mai finally released me from her tight hug, allowing me to breathe, and her to look at the boys in the face.

"Kaiba's here?" She asked.

Yugi nodded his head.

"And we need the Niwatori card to cross the desert so we can rescue him."

"That's the prize card for this match."

Suddenly, the shouting from the stands became louder. Insults and shouts for the match to continue.

"This crowd may be fake, but they look awfully mad to me." I managed out, a nervous smile on my face.

"We can't leave without that Niwatori card!" Jounouchi added.

"Well, I'm not so sure about crossing a desert, but I'm over this place." Mai gave a smirk and a wink to us. "And I'm positive that I can get that Niwatori card."

She gave a glance to where it was sitting before calling out to her Harpie. "Harpie Lady! Use Rose Whip!" The whip wrapped around the card, bringing it quickly back to us.

That definitely made the crowd unhappy. They climbed out of their seats, onto the coliseum floor and then raced after us. Mai and I ripped off the costumes as we bolted out of the door.

"We're in trouble now!" Jounouchi shouted in alarm.

"Run for it!"

We made it out of the Coliseum quickly but the crowd was gaining on us. Jounouchi branched off for a moment to use a 'crowd control' trap card, Trap Hole, which helped immensely.

"By the time they get around this, we'll be across the desert!"

It was definitely quieter at the town's edge. Not a single sound, except for the swirling sand in the distance, could be heard. "Let's see if this card works. Will you do the honors, Mai?" She seemed pleased to hear those words and pulled out the card. As expected, five large chickens appeared and simply waited for us to climb on. "Then let's giddy-up."

Luckily, the Niwatori cards kept all of us at a level where the sand wouldn't get into our eyes. That made the journey ten times easier. As we crossed the desert, Mai explained that the suits at Kaiba Corp had paid for her to test out the game. Mokuba suspected that it was to see everything went according to plan for when they used it on Kaiba. It was a smart plan but they couldn't have planned for the rest of us to have come along.

The ground suddenly began to shake violently. I hung on to my chicken and watched as a large sand worm pulled its way out of the ground. "All right then. I'll kick over this sand castle with my Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

Jounouchi pulled out another card from the holder and the large black dragon made easy pickings of the worm. Just as it was defeated, the sand cleared and Mai could make something out.

"Some sort of Ancient temple." Yugi acknowledged. "That must be what we're looking for!"

"Is that where they're keeping, Kaiba?" Mai asked.

"From what Mokuba heard from an old woman." I answered. "She said 'the Temple across the desert'."

"That's gotta be it!" Mokuba cheered. "Seto's gotta be there!"

With an embarrassing call of 'Go, Drumsticks' from Jounouchi, we were off toward the temple. How much more demeaning could a name for a chicken be?

We barely made it to the temple before Mokuba jumped off his Niwatori and raced into the temple. I gave a heaving sigh.

"I am so tired of having people run off on me." I sighed

"I don't envy you, darling." Mai sighed as well.

We all bolted after the younger Kaiba and entered the temple together. It was almost like the inside of a cave, bats and all.

"Sheesh." Jounouchi shivered. "This temple's seen better days."

"Definitely creepy." Mai agreed.

"Yeah, let's try and stick together." Yugi said as we approached a door.

On a hunch, I glanced over to Jounouchi, who was wearing a cocky smirk towards me.

"What?" I snapped.

"Oh, nothing." He teased. "I bet you just wish your boyfriend was here in this dark and creepy cave so that you could grab his arm!"

My eyebrow twitched. He was doing this now? I definitely regretted letting him find out about Yami and me…

"Boyfriend?" Mai asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "When did this happen? Anzu did say you were seeing someone."

I huffed at the both them, my temper flowing over, and a stalagmite of ice appeared from the cavern floor. Both of them jumped away in fright.

"Quit it." I huffed and continued on.

I managed a couple of steps before I heard Jounouchi once more.

"She's just embarrassed." He teased out once more.

I turned around and flicked my wrist. Nothing happened but it was enjoyable to see him jumping to hide behind Mai, like it would help him. I turned back around to stop and stare at the door we had come to. Jounouchi jumped forward, placing a hand on the large wooden door. "Allow me."

It opened with a loud creak and we came face to face with large walls that stretched for what seemed like miles. "It's a labyrinth dungeon! It's like where we dueled the Paradox Brothers, huh, Yug?" Yugi looked like he was going to agree but the door suddenly closing behind us stopped him. Jounouchi and I banged on the door but it refused to budge.

We were forced to go through the maze and what made this whole thing weirder was another scream echoed from inside the maze.

"Someone's in trouble." Yugi breathed out.

"I'm on it!" Jounouchi cried out as he pushed through Mai and Yugi to get into the maze.

"Watch where you're going, Jounouchi!" Mai shouted after him. "That doofus will do anything to meet a girl."

"You're just too good for him, Mai." I told her.

That made Mai flash a smile at me. Her turning her head at the right time allowed her to see something come out of the wall behind us. We all turned as well. It was dark blue with red spikes coming out of the front. 2400/2400 flashed on top of it.

"A Labyrinth Tank!" Yugi cried. "Run!"

We all bolted into the maze. Jounouchi was a good ways ahead of us, questioning whether or not to go left or right. "Jounouchi!" The blonde finally turned around and his eyes widened in shock. We turned down another hall in a bid to escape but another tank appeared; we tried to make a loop but the remaining hall was filled with another large tank. "We're boxed in!"

"Ok, anybody here got a plan?" Jounouchi asked.

"Yeah, get past those tanks!"

"Without being turned into Swiss cheese in the process." I added on.

Jounouchi narrowed his eyes at us.

"You got a Plan B? Or we **will** be turning into Swiss cheese!"

Yugi seemed to get an idea as pulled a card from his deck.

"I'll use my Magical Hats!"

Just as he said it, a large black hat fell on top of us and the whole world spun for a moment. I could hear the Labyrinth tanks attack but we weren't damaged at all.

"I love that trick." Jounouchi giggled from beside me. "Now, let's move this party."

"Ow!" Mai cried when a foot came on top of her own. "Jounouchi! That was my foot!"

"Sorry."

When we walked a good ways down an unseen hall, the hat disappeared but we were still in the Labyrinth. I couldn't help but sigh.

"I've pulled rabbits, birds, and even Jounouchi's head out of a hat." I said. "But I've never pulled myself out of one before."

"New magic trick?" Yugi asked.

I glanced down at him with a light smirk before ruffling his hair.

"Maybe."

The rumbling of the tanks started up again.

"They're still after us!" Mai shouted.

"Which way do we go?!" Mokuba shouted as well.

Something flew in front of Yugi's face and I recognized it as the same looking fairy from the graveyard earlier. She pulled away a foot before waving us to follow her.

"Maybe she can help us." Yugi mused.

"Well, let's not waste any time debating!" Jounouchi called as he started to run after the fairy.

"Do you think she can lead us to my brother?" Mokuba asked.

Well, she definitely led us to someone.

"Earu, you're back!" A girl's voice cried from down the hall.

She wore a long formal gown, colored in light yellows and pinks, and she had a circlet tiara on her head. It was awfully fancy clothes to be hanging out in a Labyrinth.

"Who's that?" Jounouchi asked, coming to a stop a few feet away from the girl.

When we all got close enough, the similarities between this girl and Mokuba were clear as day. I wouldn't have argued if someone had said they were twins. "Check it out, Mokuba. Looks like that fairy's turned you into a girl."

"Great, can she make you smart?!" Mokuba snapped back, walking in front of the group, a nasty look on his face.

He approached the girl calmly. "We heard someone scream. Are you all right?"

"I lost Earu—my guide." The girl explained.

"Well, we're all here now." Jounouchi butted in. "So, can you get us out of this rattrap?"

"Jounouchi!" I snapped for politeness' sake but the girl didn't seem to mind his bluntness, shaking her head.

"I'm lost, too."

We all sighed. Welp, there went that plan. "But Earu will find a way out for us!" That brought the mood up.

We all took after the fairy once more, making turn upon turn, until Mokuba shouted out.

"I can see the end of the maze!" He called.

"All right!" Jounouchi cheered. "We're home free!"

As soon as he exited the maze, Jounouchi froze dead in his tracks, forcing me to carefully stop behind him before we collided. I looked up and knew exactly what he was looking at. "Did I say 'Home free'? I meant in deep trouble!"

Gate Guardian towered above us. 3750/3400 flashed over the large monster's head and I knew we were in big trouble. I couldn't think of anything that could over power that thing! But apparently Jounouchi and Yugi could. "I'll combine my Red Eyes Black Dragon…"

"With my Summoned Skull." Yugi finished.

A large dragon like monster appeared from the fusion, Black Skull Dragon (3200/3500). It was an impressive looking creature, I gave them that much.

"Nice try, guys," Mai sighed out, "but we still need even more attack power. I hate this! Everything's rigged against us!"

"Just wait." Jounouchi smirked. "I've still got Dragon Nails. It raises our attack power by 700 points!"

The dragon let out a ferocious attack and Gate Guardian exploded into a flurry of pixels. Mokuba and I both cheered at our latest victory.

"That's amazing!" The girl breathed out. "You're all so brave… So much like the heroes of legend."

"It was nothing!" Jounouchi tried to be modest but I saw through it, he was happy to receive all the attention.

Yugi went to ask about the heroes of legend she talked about but more voices appeared from the cavern ahead, interrupting him. Fire light appeared and as it got closer, so did the figures of people.

"Milady, is that you?" One man cried.

"Lady Adena!" Another called. "Is everything all right?!"

The girl perked up at the sound of the voices, smiling when the people came into focus.

"Grandma!" The girl cried and rushed over to an elderly woman.

"Milady, we've been worried sick about you." She cooed to the girl.

She then noticed us. "I see you've made some new friends."

The girl turned back to all of us, a bright smile plastered onto her face.

"They saved me. They're the bravest warrior's I've ever seen!"

All of us made embarrassed chuckles at her words. It was too much! "As thanks, I'd like to invite them as guests to the palace."

I know I should have considered what she meant by palace but I wasn't expecting this! The lot of us were escorted to a carriage that carried us down a road to wherever this palace was.

"Well, I still don't know what to make of this crazy game world…" Jounouchi was saying. "But I like this part a lot better than that maze."

"I like Adena." Mai said. "At least she knows how to travel in high style."

Adena was the name of the girl from the caves. It was a classy name and I liked it.

"That's true." Yugi agreed. "Mokuba, you should be flattered that Kaiba based such a cool character on you."

"On me?" Mokuba asked.

"Yeah, on you…" Jounouchi began to laugh. "My lady!"

Mokuba glared at the blond and I rolled my eyes. Typical Jounouchi.

"Wow, look at that!" Yugi had turned to look out the window.

We all adjusted in our seats to look out the window and saw the large palace in the distance.

"Hope they have food in this game!"

"Is food only thing you care about?" I asked.

Jounouchi said nothing but his face said all. I sighed and moved on.

"I just hope they can help us." Mokuba mused. "We need to find Seto."

It was only a little while longer before we were settled at the gates to the large palace. As we were walking, Yugi and I noticed Earu flying to settle himself into Yugi's hair. It was absolutely adorable and Adena agreed.

"It seems Earu has taken a liking to you." Adena giggled.

Yugi blinked before speaking.

"Is this your palace?"

Adena stopped and turned around to face us.

"Why, yes. I am the princess of this land – Sin Lau. Princess Adena."

She finished with a curtsey and all of us erupted into a shout.

"Princess?!"

We were then escorted to the dining hall where my appetite was quickly washed away by Jounouchi's abysmal eating habits. Yugi forced me to eat something small and I only did it because of the light twitch of crimson in his eyes. The last thing I wanted was for Yami to pop up in the middle of dinner with Jounouchi around.

"Careful, everyone." Mai drawled sarcastically. "Keep your hands and feet away from Jounouchi's mouth."

Jounouchi kept stuffing his face until he nearly choked. I was going to stand up and check to see if he was ok but Mokuba spoke up and broke my train of thought.

"Princess Adena…" He began. "Do you have any news of my brother – Seto?"

Adena suddenly looked down to her food, guilt written across her face.

"Well, I didn't want to say anything before," she said, "but people often disappear when it is time for the offerings."

"Offerings?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"Every year at this time, offerings are collected from this and another kingdom so that the Mythic Dragon can be resurrected."

"Mythic Dragon?" Yugi gasped.

"The other Kingdom has already put up their offering – some stranger from a distant land."

"That's Seto!" Mokuba interrupted. "Please! Tell me where he is!"

"He's in a dark castle floating in the sky."

"A dark castle?"

"Why does that sound familiar?" I asked, throwing a glance at Yugi, who definitely recognized it.

"The Castle of Dark Illusions?" He asked.

Adena nodded slightly before gesturing to a painting at the side of the room. It was a simple one: one half dark like the night sky and the other half bright with sunlight. Nearly covering the entire painting was what looked like a giant bird.

"That painting tells the tale." She began. "We have passed down the legend for generations. Long ago, a hero escaped that dreaded castle on a flying machine. It is said that he hid his vessel in Sin Lau a thousand years ago. His ship was never found and there's no other way to reach the Dark Castle."

"We could fly there on Jounouchi's dragon." Mai offered.

"A magic barrier protects the castle. No Duel Monsters can penetrate it."

That definitely put a damper on our ideas and Mokuba's confidence. The boy's head dropped and his fists were clenching on the table.

"Don't you worry." Mai told him. "Just keep telling yourself that this is only a game. We can solve it."

I noticed all the gawked faces in the room and panicked.

"Mai, fourth wall!" I gasped out.

She may not have known what the fourth wall was but she seemed to notice her blunder as she noticed the expressions as well.

"Oh! I mean, Life's a Game!" She quickly remedied then turned serious again. "So what are you going to do about your Kingdom's offering?"

That brought more gasps but they were demurred this time. Adena lowered her head again.

"Well…." She nearly whispered. "I've… volunteered."

"What?!" I gasped out.

The rest of the gang gasped as well, surprised at the words. "But don't worry about my fate, for with the legend comes a prophecy… and it predicts that epic heroes will come to Sin Lau from beyond the distant mountains. It is these great warriors who, united, will create a power that is strong enough to destroy the Mythic Dragon."

"Are you saying that you think that's us?" Yugi asked.

"You think… We're the epic heroes from the prophecy?" Mai asked as well.

Adena nodded her head, a smile on her face.

"Yes, on your shoulders rests the fate of our Kingdom." Adena said.

"No pressure." I said, forcing a smile.

Jounouchi didn't seem too worried as he immediately began to cheer. Mai was quick to try and tear him down but Jounouchi retorted with logic that I couldn't help but agree with.

"To properly prepare you, we will adorn you in the manner of our greatest heroes."

Mai eagerly pulled through the chests of clothes that were given to us. I gingerly plucked through them until I was handed something by Adena's "grandmother." She said that it was once the outfit of choice of a princess who had gone toe to toe with the Mythic Dragon ages ago. I took it, mostly to just make the old woman happy. As I changed, I could hear Mai cheer happily as she finished.

"A girl like me could get used to this." She said. "How'd you make out, Yugi?"

"Well, I feel a bit silly." Yugi admitted.

"Silly? I think you look just great!"

"If you say so."

There was a pause for a moment. I could still hear the clinking of armor as Mai shifted around.

"Has Christine come out yet?" Mai asked.

"I haven't seen her."

I heard footsteps approach my changing area and I quickly finished tying up my boots.

"Dear?" Mai poked near the entrance flap. "You done?"

"Just about." I replied. "My boots are a bit of a pain."

Mai didn't argue with me and I heard her take a step back. I gathered a breath and walked out of the tent. Mai was only a step away with Yugi sitting on a crate a few feet away.

"Oh, dear, you look marvelous!" Mai cooed, pulling me into a hug.

"Mai!"

I fought until she finally let go and I was able to settle my hair once more.

"She's right, Christine." Yugi said. "That looks awesome on you!"

I looked into the mirror provided to us and my first thought was that I looked just like a blonde Lucina. The outfit had the same dark blue color scheme and the inside of the cape was a dark red. Hey, if I was supposed to be a hero here, I was glad I looked like a bad ass one. I turned to the both of them and smiled.

"Better look out." I teased and Mai gave a bright laugh.

Yugi had gone quiet again, looking down to the floor from where he sat on the crate. "Yugi?" He looked up and when he saw both Mai and looking at him, he sighed.

"Mai, the Kaiba Corp execs have reprogrammed this game." He said softly. "You could be putting yourself in danger."

Mai rolled her eyes.

"Yugi, did you check me out?" Mai asked.

"I can't say that I have…" I muttered jokingly, loud enough for Mai to hear me, and was whacked across the head playfully. Mai turned back to Yugi, a new smirk on her face.

"I look way too good to be sitting at home."

Yugi smiled at that.

"You're ok, Mai." He said.

He then looked at me and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere, so don't even try." I told him.

It didn't convince him but he stopped looking at me when Mai spoke again.

"Where's Jounouchi, anyway?" She asked.

"Back here." Jounouchi's face was sticking out of another curtain, a bright blush on his cheeks. "And back here's just where I'm staying, too."

"Oh, come on. Don't be such a wimp."

His face disappeared but the curtains opened and the entire outfit Jounouchi was wearing was revealed. He looked almost like a caveman, a skull on his head and a bone club gripped in his hand. I wanted to laugh but I also wanted to live through this whole thing.

"I'm wearing a bath rug, Mai!"

"But Jounouchi," the old woman argued, "this is the traditional garb of our greatest national hero!"

Jounouchi looked to want to argue some more but a bolt of lightning and immediate clap of thunder interrupted him.

"Lightning?!" Jounouchi gasped out.

"But it was sunny just a minute ago!" I gasped as well.

"Something isn't right here."

Following Jounouchi, we all walked out onto the balcony so we could see everything that was going on. Walking out, I noticed Mokuba and Princess Adena coming out as well, much to the old woman's dismay.

We all were looking into the sky and a large shadow began to appear. I couldn't make the whole thing out but I knew what it was; Yugi's shout confirmed it.

"Look!" He shouted. "A castle floating in the sky!"

More shadows were appearing from the large one and as they got closer, I could see what they were. A large assortment of Duel Monsters were beginning to come towards the castle.

"It looks like they've come to get their offering." Jounouchi mused.

"Well, they're not getting it." I huffed softly to myself.

"How are we going to stop them all?" Mai asked.

A fast moving blur suddenly caught my vision, Yugi must have saw it too.

"It's the Armed Ninja!" He shouted.

We both shared a look and I raced toward Mokuba and the princess.

"I got her!" I called.

I jumped to their side and pulled a card from my deck. "Go Vanity's Fiend!" The red haired Fiend appeared out of the shadows as well, shooting dark orbs and slashing through as many enemies as he could on the way toward the Armed Ninja. I saw Mai's Dark Witch also doing that but it seemed to be getting us nowhere.

"This won't work!" Yugi shouted so that all of us could hear. "There are too many to fight one at a time. Summon back your monsters."

"And then what?" Mai asked.

"We'll have to use another strategy."

Knowing Yugi, he probably did have a plan and I wouldn't argue with him.

"Vanity's Fiend, return!" I called, holding out the card.

The fiend vanished like he had come and I waited for Yugi's next instructions.

"I'll activate the Dark Hole magic card! And then they'll be lost in its vortex!"

Before the card could activate, a kunai came out of nowhere and stuck the card into the castle floor. With it stuck like that, we couldn't use it!

The Armed Ninja used the distraction to throw a net and instinct had me wrap my arms around the princess in an attempt to pull her to safety. The net came too fast and the both of us were pulled off the ground.

"Woah!" The both of us screamed but for some reason, the princess' voice seemed different.

I opened my eyes to see that Jounouchi had summoned his axe raider and was using Kunai with Chain to try and pull us back down. It succeeded in destroying the Armed Ninja but as we were falling back towards the castle, another Duel Monster grabbed the rope and pulled us out into the open air.

"Christine! Princess!" I heard Yugi call.

I looked up once more but we had flown so far away that I couldn't see where everyone was. I still decided to shout at them.

"Don't worry!" I shouted. "I'll find you at the castle, ok?! I'll find Kaiba there!"

There were still shouts of my name but there was nothing I could do. I clutched onto the Princess tighter and glared toward the large castle that we were flying towards. Well, I'm getting a one way ticket towards Kaiba. Hopefully he's here.

* * *

I didn't remember falling unconscious. It may have been when one of those monsters was pulling the princess and me out of the net and whacked me over the head when I fought back. I remembered everything going black and then nothing.

I came too when a harsh shiver rushed down my spine. Yami? Did he take over? He must have been pissed for the shiver to have been that harsh. I sat up, my body sore and tired. I was in some sort of cell, stone walls and bars covering the only entryway.

"Well, that has to be my way out." I said aloud, getting to my feet.

I had to find the Princess and Kaiba. With both of them here, it was only a matter of time before that freak show dragon was revived and everything went crazy. My only problem was that I was stuck in this cell.

With the range of motion I had through the bars, I wasn't able to see anybody, or anything, nearby. I still had my deck and my life points were still at 2000; that was a relief at least. "Though, how to get out?" There were no attack or defense points on the bar so I had to be creative. I could just summon a monster to blow the bars up or…. I smirked. Metal can snap if it gets too cold, right?

I settled my hands on two of the bars and forced as much of my powers onto them as I could. I couldn't feel the cold but I saw the ice begin to seep up the iron bars. Pushing my whole weight into my hands, I managed to push the bars out of place and climb on through. "Awesome! Now time to find Kaiba."

I jumped up the stairs two at a time and raced through the halls. I didn't want to shout and let myself be discovered quickly so I searched each room I passed for any signs of Kaiba. I didn't find anything after the first couple of minutes but I eventually heard a large roar, one that was familiar. "If you hear a Blue Eyes," I jokingly quoted my friend from back home, "you might just find Seto Kaiba."

I followed the roar and sure enough, I caught sight of the large gleaming white dragon that Kaiba obsessed over. There were two of them standing next to each other and they were looking down on humanoid figures. I recognized Kaiba's blue coat so I knew that it was he who summoned them and there was a smaller figure in front of him. He looked awfully familiar…..

I face palmed.

I can't believe it. Mokuba had switched clothes at the last minute with the princess in order to get here quickly and find his brother. Mokuba was as reckless as always. I sighed. Well, what was going to stop him? He and Adena looked so similar, who could have caught the difference fast enough?

I took my mind off my annoyance and listened in on Kaiba and Mokuba. The elder brother seemed to be quite annoyed with something.

"What?!" Kaiba growled out. "You know how I feel about Yugi Motou."

"But I didn't know who else to turn to." Mokuba managed out.

"Anyone else."

Kaiba's hatred knows no bounds. I rolled my eyes and walked around the corner.

"You're so honest with your feelings, Kaiba." I teased out, placing a hand on my chest. "It warms my heart."

Mokuba gave a bright smile, rushing over to me.

"Christine, you're ok!" He cried. "What happened to you?"

"Those freak shows thought they could keep me in a cage." I waved my hand dismissively. "Like that would work."

"Then how did you get away?" Kaiba asked, his voice harsh.

I gave a shrug.

"Enough things will break under extreme temperature, metal isn't excluded."

Kaiba gave me a raised eyebrow. He was obviously confused as to what I was talking about but Mokuba seemed to understand what I meant as he gave a smile. "Let's just get out of here. Yugi, Jounouchi and Mai are most likely already up here by now." Mokuba nodded and the three of us raced out of the room and down the hall.

It wasn't long before more monsters appeared out of the adjoining halls. Kaiba was quick to call for his dragons to attack but I figured that I should at least help a little. I pulled out a card. "Guardian Angel Joan!" The token monster for my deck appeared flying above our heads; her eyes were narrowed, flicking back and forth at all the monsters that were coming our way. "Celestial Light!" The angel lifted her hands and a bright light erupted towards the monsters, destroying them on contact.

We continued fighting our way down the hall until we had come to an empty room. I noticed that there was a strange portal in the middle of the floor. "What the heck is this thing?"

"A portal to a lower level?" Mokuba asked his brother.

"Possibly." Kaiba replied. "But with this whole game reprogrammed, who knows what it could be."

"I'll go check it out." I quickly said.

"But…!" Mokuba went to argue.

I quickly turned toward the portal, not wanting to hear the concern, though it wasn't unnecessary. I looked up to my monster for a moment then back to the portal.

"Let's go, Joan!" I called as I jumped into the portal.

I fell a few dozen feet until Joan caught my arms and helped lower me onto my feet. "Well, that was fun!"

"Christine!" A familiar voice called.

I looked up to see Jounouchi, Mai and Yami all running toward me, smiles on their faces.

"Hey, you guys!" I waved back. "Fancy meeting you here."

Jounouchi ruffled my hair, making me stick my tongue out at him. Mai winked at me, obviously happy that I was still enthusiastic even this far in to the game. I glanced over to Yami, hardly giving him time to breathe before jumping into a tight hug.

"You ok?" He asked.

I nodded my head.

"Just fine." I then smiled. "Oh, yeah!"

I pulled away from the hug and smiled at the three of them. "I found Kaiba and Mokuba! They're up there!" I pointed to the portal. "Which reminds me." I turned back and called up to the portal above us. "Kaiba! Mokuba! It's safe down here!"

I was answered by a roar of one of Kaiba's dragons.

"A Blue Eyes?" Yami breathed out.

"That's how I found them. They make a lot of noise. "

Suddenly, the head of one of the Blue Eyes appeared through the portal, scaring all of us. Sliding on top of its head came Kaiba and Mokuba, who landed on the ground with a thud. Thankfully, they were both ok.

"Kaiba, Mokuba!" Jounouchi cheered. "You're ok! What a relief! We've been all worried."

Kaiba's face grew a smirk.

"Jounouchi, you look like an overgrown monkey in that outfit." He taunted.

Jounouchi immediately fell for it.

"Overgrown monkey?! That's the thanks I get for coming to rescue—"

Jounouchi was cut off with laughter that seemed to echo from the walls. We all looked around but couldn't find out where it was coming from. A dark splotch soon appeared on the far wall and I assumed the voice was coming from there.

"Congratulations, gamers." A voice said, chuckling lightly. "You've made it to the final level."

"Correction, you slime ball." Kaiba smirked up to the voice. "We've beaten the game."

"Oh, is that what you think, Seto Kaiba?"

"That's right, I escaped the lava pool. Therefore the Mythic Dragon wasn't summoned. That means this game is over!"

Another voice chuckled then.

"It will be game over, all right." He said. "But for you, not us."

The castle then vanished into darkness. It left behind what looked to me like a circuit board. Light flowed down the gold wires and out of sight. This was definitely not part of Kaiba's game.

"No way!"

"What is this?" Jounouchi barked to Kaiba.

"They've rewritten the program! They're summoning the Mythic Dragon themselves!"

Black muck flowed from the ground and ceiling, coalescing itself into one giant form with two heads. Color then flowed into the creature and we were now faced with a giant dragon that had five heads, one for each attribute in Duel Monsters.

"Oh, man…"

I agreed with Jounouchi. This thing was huge! With 5000/4000, it was an incredible monster! "I'm really starting to miss my body."

"Suck it up." Kaiba snapped at Jounouchi. "There's only one way we can get out of this game."

"I agree." Yami added. "We have to take this dragon down."

To begin an assault, Mai summoned her Harpie Lady Sisters but for some reason, they couldn't get off the ground. Electric like shocks pulsed through them, paining them if they even tried. The first voice chuckled again.

"Just another bit of reprogramming that we did." He explained.

Underneath our feet, a large magic card faded in. Some kind of seal?

"We call it 'The Dragon's Seal'," the third voice chimed in, "and it makes this lair a sacred place where only dragon class monsters are allowed to attack. Every other monster type is useless."

Kaiba began to laugh. These guys must have been idiots. Kaiba seemed to agree with me.

"You dare challenge me to a battle of dragons?" He barked through laughter. "You five should know better than that!"

They should've….. Kaiba quickly summoned his Blue Eyes White Dragon. Jounouchi summoned his Red Eyes, Mai had Harpie's Pet Dragon and Yami summoned Curse of Dragon. They were all pretty strong but that thing still had almost double the attack power.

"Christine, do you have a dragon?" Jounouchi asked me.

I nodded my head but quickly argued.

"My dragon doesn't have the attack power that yours does; I'd just be a weak link!" I told him.

"You're a weak link without anything to protect you!" Kaiba barked at me.

I huffed.

"Yeah? Well, I prefer effects rather than just sheer attack power, unlike someone I know!"

Kaiba didn't retort, keeping his head toward the large dragon in front of us. My mind suddenly caught up to my snap. Attack power? Oh! There's an idea! "I got an idea, Jounouchi! I just remembered a card in my deck that could help power it up!" Jounouchi smiled.

"Do it!"

I pulled two cards out of my deck.

"I summon Mirage Dragon and power it up with Big Bang Shot!"

The large yellow serpent-like dragon appeared, (1600/600), and I saw its attack points climb up to 2000. "That should help a little bit!"

We all attacked but nothing got through. It was frustrating to say the least.

"Those blasts must have cancelled each other out when they all collided!" Yami mused.

"So they did." The first voice mused as well. "But one of your team has no dragon with which to attack or defend. Isn't that right, Mokuba?"

"Wait…" Kaiba gasped out. "No, you wouldn't!"

The large yellow dragon fired a blast from its mouth and it hurtled towards Mokuba. I cycled through my deck as fast as I could but when I eventually found the card I wanted to use, a trap card that would have stopped the attack and given us life points based on the attack power, Jounouchi had already cried out to have his monster protect Mokuba. The dragon barely last a second before it dissolved away.

Jounouchi collapsed onto the ground. He was shaking and I gasped when I saw that his life point meter had reached zero. I stormed over to him, scared but also utterly infuriated. I whacked him over the head, though not as hard as I normally would because of the tears escaping my eyes.

"You idiot!" I shrieked at him. "Couldn't you have waited another second?!"

The blond gave a strangled chuckle.

"Instincts, ya know?" He playfully said. "Couldn't help it."

I wanted to whack him again but saw that he was quickly fading away. First his feet then it climbed up his body. "Sorry, guys." It was the last thing he said before he vanished.

Mai's fists clenched tightly. She jumped to her feet and shouted up to the dragon.

"You creeps!" She screamed. "What kind of sick, twisted game have you turned this into?!"

"Game?" The first voice asked before laughing. "This ceased to be a game long ago."

Kaiba, who didn't seem to be overcome with emotion like the rest of us, spoke quickly.

"We need a new tactic." He simply said.

"Yes," Yami agreed, finally getting to his feet, "with our dragons alone, we won't win this. But I think I know how we can."

"What do you mean?"

"As strong as that Mythic Dragon might be, there's one creature that can beat it."

Nobody seemed to understand what he was saying but Yami continued on anyway. He summoned Black Luster Soldier, sacrificing his Curse of Dragon and Gaia the Fierce Knight, and while it was tough, it wasn't a dragon. That fact was quickly pointed out to us by the first voice.

"Weren't you listening to what we just said?" He laughed out. "Your Black Luster Soldier isn't a dragon. Therefore, he can't attack!"

"But on the other hand," a new voice chimed in, "we can still attack him."

"No, you can't!" Mai shouted up to the dragon. "My Pet Dragon will stop you!"

The Pet Dragon attacked but the same yellow head attacked back.

"Then you'll pay the price." The first voice simply said.

Mai's dragon's attack was quickly repelled and her dragon was destroyed in the same way Jounouchi's was.

"Mai!" I screamed.

Yami and I both fell at her side as Mai collapsed to the ground. "No, Mai. You can't leave yet…"

She turned her head to glance at me.

"Sorry, sweetie." She said, her tone clear that she was in pain. "It looks like I'm not gonna be around to see how this whole thing turns out. Sorry, I tried my best. It's up to you…"

Her last word was echoed because that was when she faded away.

Not again…. First Jounouchi, now Mai….? My heart was clenching, like it had gone through all of this before. I didn't want it to happen again!

I was still on the ground when Yami got up once more to confront Kaiba. The two bickered for a moment before the first voice chimed in with a response to Kaiba.

"You'll win nothing." He said. "Two of your group are already gone and now we'll make it three, maybe even four!"

What?

The same dragon head attacked, the blast streaking towards Kaiba. Mokuba suddenly started running and my attention was stuck on him.

"Seto, it's not your dragon he's attacking, it's you!"

Mokuba pushed Kaiba out of the way and took the blow for himself.

"Mokuba!" I cried but before I could rush over, my heart clenched again.

My legs gave out and saw that another of the dragon heads had attacked my own dragon. I couldn't help but think that it was ironic that the Ice head had attacked me. How funny…..

"No! Christine!" Yami's voice pierced my ears.

He was suddenly in front of me, hands gripping at my shoulders. "Stay with me, please!" I didn't reply; I only looked down at the counter on my wrist and read only zeros. I looked back up to him and forced a smile on my face.

"Sorry." I said, my voice faint. "I guess I wasn't paying enough attention."

Yami shook his head furiously. "I think I know what your plan is." I managed to say as my body was fading away. "Just don't do anything stupid, ok?"

I couldn't see Yami's response as everything faded away.

The next thing I remember is waking up to loud noises, voices and shouting. I sat up, rubbing my head. "Yeouch." I muttered. "What the heck happened?" I opened my eyes to see Jounouchi, Mai and Mokuba surrounding me, all rubbing their heads as well. I then looked up to see Yami, beaming away at all of us. Kaiba was standing next to him, but his eyes were glued to Mokuba. They must have done it! "Yami!"

I jumped up and plowed him into a hug, making him let out an 'oof' and nearly knocking him over. Yami returned the gesture but pulled away when Jounouchi and Mai joined us.

After a moment, a black portal opened behind us. Our moment of reverie forgotten, we all turned to look at it.

"The exit portal." Kaiba quickly explained. "Let's go, Mokuba."

"Hey, hold it a sec, Kaiba." Jounouchi interrupted before Kaiba could leave. "Don't you think the very least you could do is say thank you or something?"

"I never asked for your help," Kaiba retorted, "and as far as I'm concerned, I never needed it."

"Ah, come on."

I patted him on the shoulder.

"Give it up, Jounouchi." I told him. "He's not gonna say it, no matter how much you complain."

To my surprise, Kaiba called out my name. I looked over to, surprise clear in my expression.

"Thank you for looking after my brother." He simply said.

Am I hearing things? I was tempted to pinch myself but I couldn't reach skin through the armor I was wearing. I blinked before scrambling a response.

"Eh… No problem." I replied, hesitantly. "It was the least I could do."

Kaiba didn't look at me, his head now turning to Yami.

"Yugi, I will also offer you some gratitude."

Yami seemed just as amazed, and confused, as I did. His eyebrow raised slightly. "We made a good team, you and I. But don't think it means we'll be partnering up in true reality."

"Very well." Yami replied. "But despite whatever grudge you may still hold against me and the others, perhaps you can at least begin to stop looking at us as just adversaries and more as friends."

Highly doubtable, my mind immediately settled upon. Fat pigs would fly before Seto Kaiba would willingly call him and Yugi friends. Kaiba huffed.

"Come on, Mokuba."

The younger Kaiba followed quickly behind. Jounouchi growled after them with Mai commenting on Kaiba's 'cheery' attitude.

"Thank you, our heroes." A voice that sounded a lot like Adena's suddenly broke in, except it was coming from the Mystical Elf. "Your brave deeds will always be remembered here."

"And we will always remember all of you." Yami replied before taking my hand and pulling me towards the portal.

We all waved goodbye and entered the portal and without any sort of delay, I woke up back in my body. The pod opened up near soundlessly but my ears were barraged with the sounds of smacking on ice.

"Try to get through that, jerks!" Anzu taunted.

"Nice throw, Anzu!" Honda cheered. "Why didn't we use that before?"

I heard Jounouchi groan and there were gasps from our other two friends.

"Yugi, Jounouchi, Christine!" Anzu cheered. "You're all back!"

We all climbed out of the pods carefully and over to where Anzu and Honda were standing. All of the extra equipment had been pushed to cover the door, possibly to stop people from coming in. I smiled when I saw that Anzu had thrown my ice ball at the door and it had covered it completely, blocking out Kemo and his goons. Jounouchi was quick to make faces at the obviously angry goons.

"And so's Kaiba." Yugi told her. "He's probably getting out of his pod right now."

Sounds could apparently reach Kemo as he suddenly gave a gasp.

"No, he can't be!" Kemo gasped.

"And without you guys to guard your bosses," Mokuba now taunted, "I'd say he's about to kick some butt."

The goons were quick to leave at that thought and we all cheered. I took the moment to remove the ice from the door so that we could all leave. When the sound of cracking subsided, I heard a loud yawn. "It's Mai!"

Sure enough, the blonde walked out from another room, stretching her arms over her head.

"In the flesh." She smiled. "Is everything cool?"

"Christine makes everything look cool." Anzu smiled, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"Shut it, you!" I laughed.

"Sure looks that way." Yugi said, only a slight laugh in his voice.

" 'Cause of you – All of you. So thanks." Mokuba was quick to say.

We all smiled down to the boy.

"Oh, stop it!" Jounouchi told him. "Now go on and get out of here already. Your brother probably can't wait to see you."

Mokuba finally smiled back.

"Ok. Thanks again! Bye guys!" He called.

"Bye, Mokuba!" We all called back.

We watched him run off and I smiled, reveling in the happy mood. It was quickly ruined by Jounouchi's rudeness and I was quick to sigh.

Typical Jounouchi.

 **I hope you all enjoyed the little sneak peek into Christine's deck. I looked all over the internet for a good deck formula thingy and built hers based on it.**

 **Sorry about this one being so long; I didn't want to waste your time with having it as multiple chapters.**

 **I'll see you all again when I get a good ways into Battle City, hopefully it won't take too long!**

 **RobynHood3**


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